Surnames

The suffix -cki, and the endings -ski and -dzki denote a Polish masculine adjective; while -cka, -ska, and -dzka are used for the feminine; for example, Czaplicka (Czapli + cka). If a man or his paternal line ancestor were from, or the owner of a Czaplice village, he was called Czaplicki, with the meaning "of Czaplice." Czapliński means "of Czaplin" while Czaplski and its variant, Czapski, were used to mean, "of Czaple."

Many, but clearly not all with these surnames, were Polish nobles (Szlachty). Some townspeople and country folk also probably took on the surnames. And around 1800, when Jews were required by governments to choose surnames, perhaps some of them chose Czapla, Czaplic, Czaplicki, Czapliński, or Czapski. For our Jewish readers, we recommended the database search at JewishGen - The Global Home for Jewish Genealogy and the Jewish vital records from Radziłów which include Czaplicka and Czaplicki from the possible nest of Czaplice grajewski - former name. Today: Czaple grajewski in Podlaskie province. - See:

REF.: Panstwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. Studia i materiały do dziejów powiatu grajewskiego : praca zbiorowa / pod red. Michała Gnatowskiego i Henryka Majeckiego.Warszawa: Panstwowe Wydawn. Naukowe, 1974- pg. 63. (image 65.)

CZAPLICKI SURNAME

In earlier days, when documents were written in Latin, the Polish adjectival style was not usual. Instead, the Latin prepositional form, de Czaplice. also meaning of Czaplice was common; On our Czaplicki h. Lubicz Page, under the Herbarz of Milewski, reference is made to an early Czaplicki ancestor named "Mroceslaus de Czaplice" or in Polish, "Mroczesław (Mroczek) z Czaplic." Later, Boniecki wrote that some of his direct descendants took the surname Czaplicki. The plural form of Czaplicki in Polish is Czapliccy.

Some Czaplickis (Czapliccy) have historically used the coats of arms of the clans Lubicz, Kotwicz, Kierdeja, Grzymała, Topór, Topacz. and Grabie. However, Boniecki wrote that only Czaplicki h. Lubicz and Czaplicki h. Kotwicz individuals were found in large numbers, and that only Czapliccy h. Lubicz proved their identity in the Kingdom of Poland.

According to Siebmacher, Czaplicki h. Czaplicki, also known as the Czaplicki h. Kierdeja Variation Family, became extinct. And, I am able to find only one named individual Czaplicki for clans Grzymała and Topór each.

Recently, I have found information on the Czaplicki h.Topacz family. [Editor's note: But I have yet to find a named individual, "Czaplicki h. Topacz," (Even though Rietstap does seem to equate Czabalitzki with Czaplicki.) And now I have found the Topacz arms shown for "von Czaplicki" and in this book: pg. 177 (173) - Dorst, Leonard. Schlesisches Wappenbuch oder die Wappen des Adels im Souverainen Herzogthum Schlesien der Grafschaft Glatz und der Oberlausitz. Bd. 1-3: Görlitz: G. Heinze, 1847..

Yet, I am unable still to confirm the reference of Źernicki-Szeliga to any Czaplicki h. Grabie documented individual.

[Editor's Opinion - Perhaps Katarzyna Czaplicki h. Grzymała changed her clan from Grzymała to Grabie when her daughter married into the famous Szczuka h. Grabie family. I have not been able to locate the reference, "[10.]. Acta decr. Capit. Gnesn. XVI, 7" ] see: Seweryn Kazimierz Szczuka herbu Grabie

[Editor's Note: Although I have not found any information for Czaplicki h. Suchekomnaty (Kownaty) in Polish heraldry reference books, some current genealogists and researchers have found documents for them and also for Czaplicki h. Pobóg. I now reference these on two new website pages, and include their coats of arms. I am also searching for more information on Czaplicki h. Doliwa (see: https://kielakowie.pl/showmedia.php?mediaID=12318 ) and Czaplicki h. Rola. Tadeusz Gajl lists both Czaplicki h. Pobóg and Czaplicki h. Rola in his work: Herbarz polski: od średniowiecza do XX wieku, L&L, Gdańsk, 2007, ISBN 978-83-60597-10-1 as shown on this Wikipedia Page Link.]

[Editor's Note of Caution - From Polish Nobility and Its Heraldry: An Introduction by Piotr Pawel Bajer -

http://podolska.neostrada.pl/teksty/heraldry.htm

"...There was also the case of many noblemen forgetting their arms as a result of the disintegration of the clan system or the mass movement to the East. Because of the lack of registers, when needed, the noblemen would sometimes adopt either a coat of arms of other family with the same surname or a coat of arms which they believed to be similar to their original one, (e.g., members of the clans Momot and Biberstein merged with clan Rogala [29]). In the cases of families which wanted to improve their traditional standing, however, such changes were quite intentional, (e.g., the renowned Szeptycki family, being of Walachian origin and belonging to clan Sas, changed its arms to Pobog. Later, it further fabricated its own family arms together with the tradition of being of Ruthenian origin [30]).

To remedy the situation, in 1601 Seym passed a ruling which protected the surnames and their arms. The usurpations became so common, however, that in 1633 Seym decided to punish false usurpators with the loss of their nobility rank. Klec-Pilewski rightly concludes that even this was of no help, so the legislation became another law without force [31]. He also suggests, however, that the older Polish armorials may also be to blame for this chaos, as they included many false traditions which were being taken seriously. As a result, many families which lost their armorial tradition simply found other families with the same surname but with different arms, and adopted them [32]. ..."]

CZAPLICE VILLAGES

There are quite a few historical locations known as Czaplice. Some of these are now, or have been in the past, alternately called Czaple. One is south of Chorzele, Poland in the Przasnysz district and one is southeast of Lomza, Poland. There are more Czaplice villages in Poland, but some may be of a more recent vintage. There are today Chaplitsy Чапліцы near Sluck, Chaplichi Чаплічы near Lida. and another Чаплічы near Vawkavysk, Belarus - the last three located in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There is in Ukraine today, Chapli Чаплі (Старосамбірський район), that was called Czaple samborski in Polish. Also, there are interesting towns in Germany named Schäplitz. and Zapel. (The town Shields include the image of a heron.) If you are a Czaplicki, one of these also might be the ancient "nest" of your family.

Some German Places , Water features, (A Count, and an airship!) named for "Czapla-Czaplin"

Czaplicki nests?:

Czapliński nests?:

Czapski nests?:

See more: "Nests" - Geographical Dictionary

IN CONCLUSION

Only your personal genealogical inquiry will reveal your family's story. I hope that the information included in this website will assist you as you work to discover it! And I suggest that you translate the references directly from the original languages yourself when possible. If you are like me, and fluent only in English, you might want to try the translators available from Google - they're not perfect, but they are getting better every day.

Unless stated differently, all of the translations on this website are either mine or direct Google translations. But, since I am an amateur, I expect that there are mistakes. So, suggestions concerning anything contained in this website and corrections to any errors you may find in my translations are welcome and will be appreciated. Please send them to me at puszczak@yahoo.com.

And lastly, if you have something to add or if you would like to collaborate in surname research, it would be great to hear from you!

editor - Czapla