Quassowski (family name)
Quassowski is an East Prussian family name of Slavic origin. It is made up of the basic word "Quass-" and the ending "-owski". The basic word “Quass” is derived from the Polish “kwas”, which means something like “sour” or “sourdough”, while the ending “-owski” expresses affiliation.
Name meaning
The suffix “-owski” in turn consists of the two suffixes “-ow” and “-ski” that were originally used independently . The suffix "-ow" is a place name and surname extension that is very common in the Slavic language area, which goes back to the Polish ending of the genitive plural "-ow" and also lives on in many Germanized place names as "-au" (cf. Moscow , Breslau , Spandau ). The suffix "-ski" is used to designate a person belonging to it and has no meaning beyond the comparable German "-er", even if it has been used by many Polish noble families in the sense of the German "von".
Spellings
According to the records of the well-known genealogist and author of the Quassowski card index , Hans Wolfgang Quassowski , the following spellings of the name are documented: Quasofski, Quasowska, Quasowski, Quasowskis, Quasowsky, Quaiß-Quassowski (Quaiss-Quassowski) Quassofsky, Quassokowski, Quassow, Quassowski, von Quassowski, Quassowski (Quassowski), Quassowsky, Quaß-Quassowski (Quass-Quassowski), Quassowsky (Quassowsky), Quassowsky, Quaßsowski (Quassowski), Quossowsky (Quossowsky), Quselowski, Kwacofsky, Kwaschkwasowski, Kwaschkowsky, Kwasovovsky, Kwassowski, Kwasowski, Kwassowski
Geographical distribution of the family name
In the spelling "Quassowski" the name was widespread before the Second World War , especially in East Prussia . The oldest occurrence in the 16th century is a line from Pietzonken (1930 to 1945 Grünau, in Polish Pieczonki ) in the former East Prussian district of Lötzen . In addition, there is evidence of another, unrelated lineage from the Pillkallen district (1938–1945 Schloßberg).
In the Polish spelling of the name (Kwasowski), the name also occurs in many parts of Poland.
In post-war Germany the family name "Quassowski / ky" is most often found in:
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- Lower Saxony and
- Schleswig-Holstein
Famous / well-known name bearers
- Hans Wolfgang Quassowski (1890–1968), Ministerialrat in the Reich Ministry of Economics, well-known genealogist and author of the Quassowski card index
- Julius Ludwig Quassowski (1824–1909), Royal. Prussia. Railway director, builder