Feminine Forms
Adjectival surnames, like all Polish adjectives, have masculine and feminine forms. If a masculine surname ends in -i or -y; its feminine equivalent ends in -a. Surnames ending with consonants have no specific feminine form. Examples:
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| Malinowski | Malinowska |
| Zawadzki | Zawadzka |
| Podgórny | Podgórna |
| Biały | Biała |
Nominal surnames may or may not change with gender. Like other Slavic languages, Polish has special feminine suffixes which were added to a woman's surname. A woman who was never married used her father's surname with the suffix -ówna or -'anka. A married woman or a widow used her husband's surname with the suffix -owa or -'ina / -'yna (the apostrophe means that the last consonant in the base form of the surname is softened). Although these suffixes are still used by some people, mostly the elderly and in rural areas, they are now becoming outdated and there is a tendency to use the same form of a nominal surname for both a man and a woman.
| Father / husband | Unmarried woman | Married woman or widow |
|---|---|---|
| ending in a consonant (except g) | -ówna | -owa |
| ending in a vowel or in -g | -'anka | -'ina or -'yna |
However, the forms in "-anka" and "-ina/-yna" tend to disappear and are being replaced by the forms in "-ówna" and "-owa" respectively.
Examples:
| Father / husband | Unmarried woman | Married woman or widow |
|---|---|---|
| Nowak | Nowakówna | Nowakowa |
| Madej | Madejówna | Madejowa |
| Konopka | Konopczanka, new: Konopkówna | Konopczyna, new: Konopkowa |
| Zaręba | Zarębianka, new: Zarębówna | Zarębina, new: Zarębowa |
| Pług | Płużanka, new: Pługówna | Płużyna, new: Pługowa |
Read more about this topic: Polish Name
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