Malinowski
A Polish surname meaning “from the place of raspberries” or “from Malinowo/Malina-type places.”
The #5,857 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,374 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Malinowski is a Polish habitational surname built from the place-name element malin-, from Polish malina, meaning “raspberry.” The ending -owski typically means “of” or “from” a place, so the name usually meant someone from a village or estate called Malinów, Malinowo, Malinina, or a similar locality. In some cases it may also have developed from a nickname or landscape association tied to raspberries or raspberry growth.
History
This is a common Polish surname and appears in many regions of Poland, especially where surnames were formed from local place-names in the late medieval and early modern periods. Like many Polish surnames ending in -ski/-owski, it spread beyond Poland through migration, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is also well known internationally through notable bearers such as the anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The suffix -owski was once strongly associated with noble or land-based surnames, but it later became widespread across Polish society.
Notable people named Malinowski
- Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.