Piatek

This is a popular Polish and Askenarsic surname. Recorded in several spellings including Piatek, Patek, Piatkowska, Piatkow, Piatkowski, and Piatkiewicz, it derives from the ancient pre 7th century personal name 'Patek' meaning 'Friday'. For many centuries and to some extent even in the 20th century, it was the custom of some countries to give children as their personal name, the name of the day in the week when they were baptised. 'Friday' was a particularly popular day for such ceremonies, coming as it were before the Sabbath, and ultimately these names became surnames in their own right. One of the curiosities of Polish names is the added suffix - 'ski'. This was originally an indication of gentry status similar to the French 'de' or the German 'von', and in earlier times would have been associated with the lordship of a manor. Unfortunately the surviving church registers of Poland are at best erratic, often not including the actual date merely the year, and at worst, being non existent. Most of the medieval registers have been lost in the countless wars which have swept this unfortunate country, although as time goes by under the new regime more records are becoming available as they are re-discovered. Examples of surname recordings include Stanislaw Piatkow of Brzesc, Byrdoskiego, in 1815, Bartlomiej Piatkowska of Kruszyn, also Bydoskiego, in 1821, and Wawrzniec Piatkowski of Lanieta, Lodzkiego, in 1825.