Zalewski
A Polish surname meaning “from Zalew” or “from the area by a lake or floodwater.”
The #8,629 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,993 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Zalewski is a Polish habitational surname built from the place-name element zalew, meaning a lake, reservoir, overflow, or flooded area, plus the adjectival surname ending -ski, which often originally meant “of” or “from” a place. In practice, it most likely identified someone who came from a settlement named Zalew, Zalewo, or a similar place, or who lived near a watery, inundated landscape. The ending -ski became a standard Polish surname form and does not by itself guarantee nobility.
History
This is a well-established Polish surname pattern, especially common among families whose names were formed from place names. In emigrant records and diaspora communities, Zalewski often appears with spellings adjusted to local alphabets or pronunciation, but the Polish form remained stable. Like many -ski surnames, it spread widely beyond Poland through migration in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Polish, zalew can refer both to standing water and to something “flooded” or “inundated,” which makes this a very landscape-shaped surname.