The Family Name Sawicki

Abstract

Discovering the content of names, which are often lexicalised and thus morphologically and semantically opaque, can be a worthwhile research task. On its completion we can fully appreciate the given name, not only in its asemantic synchronic dimension, but also in its meaningful historical dimension. Morphologically, the name Sawicki is an adjectival name, representing one of the most typical Polish family name patterns. It might be derived from the place-name Sawic(z)e, a polonised toponym of Ruthenian origin. The base of the toponym is the Ruthenian name Sava (from early Christian Saba). The name Sawicki belongs together with a host of eastern Polish family names of non-Polish origin, such as Kościuszko, Mickiewicz, Moniuszko, Sienkiewicz, Piłsudski, Iwaszkiewicz, names of people who (irrespective of their actual ethnic descent) identified with the Polish language, Polish culture and Polish raison d'état.