Smollich

The German family name Smollich is an indirect professional name . It is derived from the Polish word for tar / pitch (smoła) (K. Rymut: “Nazwiska Polaków” (Polish surname), Vol. 2, Kraków 2001). The first bearer of the name was therefore by profession Pechsieder or Pechbrenner. The job of pitch-boiling was widespread in the Middle Ages; it included harvesting tree sap, which was then used to extract pitch .

variants

The spelling Smollich is the German version of the Polish name "Smolich", as a double consonant is atypical in Polish. Through the use of suffixes, there is also a large number of family names from the same word stem, e.g. B. Smolin, Smolik, Smolnik, Smolarz, Smolarek, Smolinski u. v. a. m.

Frequency and distribution

With currently around 250 namesake in Germany, Smollich is one of the rare family names. Before the Second World War, it was found particularly in the German eastern regions, especially in East Prussia , Pomerania and Upper Silesia . Due to the expulsion of the German population towards the end of the war, the name can now be found in a wide regional spread, although it occurs slightly more frequently in northern and western Germany and in Berlin. The name "Smolich" was first mentioned in a document in the baptismal register of Nikolaiken (East Prussia), which records the birth of Friedrich Smolich on August 23, 1744; The first known bearer of the name with the spelling "Smollich" was Michael Smollich (born 1680). The most common male first names in the family line are Michael, Johann and Martin.

Well-known namesake

• Rudolf Smollich (1913–1998), holder of the Knight's Cross
• Thomas Smollich (* 1963), judge, President of the Lower Saxony Constitutional Court