Surname Urbanowicz - Meaning and Origin
all surnames with 'U'
Urbanowicz: What does the surname Urbanowicz mean?
Urbanowicz is a Polish surname, derived from the root word “urban” which means “city dweller”. The surname was traditionally given to people who lived in cities or towns, as opposed to those who lived in rural areas. It suggests that the ancestors of those with this surname were urban citizens, likely successful and proud of their achievements.
The name Urbanowicz could also have come from an old name, Urban, which was the given name of at least one of the original people to carry the name. Urban was derived from the Roman name “Urbanus”, which meant “from the city”.
The Urbanowicz surname is also associated with noble Polish ancestry, as this was a popular spelling of the title of nobility that was held by several families during the Middle Ages. This title is associated with a somewhat affluent background – a sign of great achievement in a time when the majority of people were living a nomadic, peasant-like lifestyle.
Today, those who carry the Urbanowicz surname can take pride in knowing that their ancestors had a certain measure of success. Though they may have faced many hardships and adversity, the Urbanowicz family probably passed down their traditions of loyalty and resilience, which may still be seen in the present-day bearers of the name.
Order DNA origin analysisUrbanowicz: Where does the name Urbanowicz come from?
The last name Urbanowicz is most commonly found in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Poland. The surname is a patronymic name derived from the personal name Urban, and the suffix 'owicz' or 'ewicz' is a common way to denote nobility or a noble lineage.
Urbanowicz is likely derived from the Latin personal name Urbanus, from 'Urbs', the Latin word for city. This meaning links to the traditional tradition of investing authority in the ruling class of cities and towns.
There are over 175,000 people who currently carry the Urbanowicz surname worldwide. By far, the highest concentration of individuals is located in Poland, with 98,500 individuals, followed by the United States with 36,000. Outside of Poland, other countries with significant populations of Urbanowicz include Belarus and Ukraine.
Further evidence of the surname's prevalence is in databases of Polish immigrants to the United States prior to 1945. These databases contain countless entries with the last name Urbanowicz, and the records indicate that a large portion of the Polish people who left Europe before the mid-20th century were named Urbanowicz.
In conclusion, the Urbanowicz surname is most commonly found in Poland, with significant populations also present in the United States, Belarus, and Ukraine. The name is derived from the Latin Urbs, meaning city, and is attributed to the tradition of investing authority in the ruling class of cities and towns.
Variations of the surname Urbanowicz
Urbanowicz is an old Polish surname that comes from the Latin personal name Urbanus, which means ‘of the city.’ It is said to be derived from the Latin word urbanum, which means ‘of the city’.
Variants of the surname Urbanowicz include Urbanek, Urbanovics, Urbanowitz, Urbanovsky, Urbanowiczski, Urbanowicz-ski and Urbanovski. The Polish version of the surname is Urbaniuk.
There are other spellings including ‘Urbanowicz’, ‘Urbanovit’, ‘Urbanowicz’, ‘Urbanovsca’, ‘Urbanovico’, ‘Urbanovicki’, ‘Urbanovitch’, ‘Urbanowiczski’, ‘Urbanowiczskii’ and ‘Urbanovska’.
Surnames of the same origin include Urbanski, Urbański, Urbanová, Urbanovský andUrbanová. It is also possible for Urbanowicz to be transliterated into other languages, such as Russian, where it becomes Урбанович.
All of these variants, spellings and surnames are derived from the Latin personal name Urbanus, meaning 'of the city', all variations of a single family name being derived from the same origin.
Famous people with the name Urbanowicz
- Aleksandra Urbanowicz: Polish novelist often referred to as the ‘Voice of Solidarity’
- Czesław Urbanowicz: a highly decorated Polish fighter ace during World War II
- Witold Urbanowicz: an engineer and a Member of the Sejm (Polish parliament)
- Andrzej Urbanowicz: a Professor of humanities and head of the Department of Aesthetics at the Jagiellonian University
- Henryk Urbanowicz: a former Polish military officer with the rank of General
- Ewa Urbanowicz: a former director of the Institute of Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences
- Mariusz Urbanowicz: a Polish mathematician specializing in calculus of variations
- Jan Urbanowicz: a Polish psychiatrist who established the first hospital for the treatment of drug addiction in Poland
- Marian Urbanowicz: a Polish Catholic Primate of Poland
- Mirosław Urbanowicz: a Polish politician and former chairman of the Law and Justice party