Wnatsinaname

Last Updated: Mar 8, 2020	Wesnofske? What's in a Name? Wiśniewski

1860	When we first come to know of what is the Wesnofske name today, it is through Bartholomew Wiśniewski, in Poland, on the occasion of the baptism of his son Michael (1775-1844), grandfather of Thomas (1809-1850) and great grandfather of Martin Wesnofske I. It appears that Wiśniewski and its variations are the third or fourth most common name to be found in Poland today. The name is still found in 2010 among the children attending the school for Gruta where Martin and Anna lived 140 years prior. A check of US city telephone books for American cities populated by Polish immigrants indicates similar levels of commonality for the surname.	Approximation for original pronunciation of Wiśniewski Vish-nee-ef-skee (4 syllables)
	1874 Martin & Anna Homepage	When Martin I and Anna board the India in the last week of May 1874 to immigrate to America, the ship's passenger list records them as Wischnewski.
1880	Martin I applies for citizenship in applications that are today commonly called "First Papers" declaring the intention to become a citizen. His application has his name as Wischky. Approximation for pronunciation of Wischky Vish-kee (or maybe Whis-key to the recording clerk). (further simplified to 2 syllables) Martin's signature on his application for citizenship indicating a lack comfort to sign his name at this time: Martut WICSKICKI. The script style for the name reflects German style script for various alphabetical characters.
CITIZENSHIP Oct 27, 1892 Martin I is designated Martin Wesnofske with a notation that he is called Wischky in "First Papers". This is the first legal filing of the intention to become a citizen of the U.S.. This is the first appearance of the surname of Wesnofske.	1892 Martin & Anna Homepage	FARM PURCHASE January 6 , 1892 Little Neck Rd., Flushing, Queens The deed recorded in Queens County property records in the Assessor's office in Liber 902, page 46, transmits the 97+ acres parcel (described in chains and link measurements), the property of Ernst Holtz, to Martin Wischnesski.
Post 1892 Martin & Anna Homepage	Wesnofske persons in the U.S. are referred to in public records, land atlases, census records and newspaper articles in a variety of ways: e.g. Wesnofski, Wesnofsky, Wesnoski.
In Polish, the word wiśnia (pronounced vish-ny-a) is for 'cherry' and the suffix ski, ska, sko is roughly the equivalent of 'locale' or 'place'. Wesnofske and its similarly derived names means from the place of cherries or cherry trees.	Cherryman Martin & Anna Homepage	Many, many similarly derived names are evident in US phone directories: Wisnowski, Wesnowski, Wischnowski, Wischnevsky, Wisnewski, Wasnofski, Wasnovsky, Wishnack, Wishner, Wishnick, Wishnie, Wisnicki, Wisneski, Wisnia, Wishnia are just some of them and all rooted in the original Polish word for cherry.
In the Polish language, as in many languages, things and people are given gender desingations by spelling. Male persons would generally be described by the suffix -ski for a surname. Female persons would be described by the suffix -ska for a surname. The use of -ske is unusual elsewhere but frequent on Polish names that are found in Queens and Nassau. For example: Wesnofske, Makofske, Zulkofske, Filaske, Lottoske.	It is thought that this spelling practice might relate to the comfort level of Polish people of German influence both as immigrants from Prussia (German controlled territory) and as settlers in heavily German immigrant communities in Queens and Nassau. The various US censuses record that the German language was the spoken language of Martin, Anna and his older children and this was noted years later by some spouses of Martin & Anna's grandchildren. In contrast, a casual survey of Queens and Nassau Polish immigrant names originating in Russian controlled territory lends an impression of a preference for the use of -sky as the suffix spelling on the Polish surnames.	What's with the 'ske'? Martin & Anna Homepage CAUTION: The writer does not speak Polish.


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