Those are as typically Slavic as one can get. If such a surname ends with an \u2013i<\/strong>, you can safely assume it\u2019s a masculine form. At least it should be in Poland. Many girls of Polish descent born abroad will carry the traditionally masculine version, too. But back in the old country, their surnames will end in an \u2013a<\/strong>. And that\u2019s why in some countries not very familiar with how this thing works, an overzealous official may scream \u201cnames don\u2019t match!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n So the two forms, that\u2019s bad news number one. Bad news number two is that both sets of names decline. Differently. One follows the rule for masculine adjectives, and the other \u2013 feminine.<\/p>\n 2. Names ending in \u2013icz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Those are also Slavic and they come in all shapes and flavors \u2013 of Russian origin, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, etc. You name it, we have it. His mother\u2019s name was Stefania Sienkiewicz<\/strong>. See? This surname stays \u201cgenderless\u201d. No masculine or feminine form here. Instead, something else happens. When combined with a guy\u2019s first name, the whole package declines, just like all the other nouns in Polish. But when combined with a girl\u2019s first name, only the girl\u2019s first name declines, not the surname.<\/p>\n Let me show you an example. Do you remember when we talked about the genitive case<\/a>? This is how \u201cHenryk Sienkiewicz<\/strong>\u201d would look in its (his?) genitive form:<\/p>\n Now when you do the same with his mother\u2019s full name, only her first name will decline:<\/p>\n
\nLet\u2019s take Maria Sk\u0142odowska-Curie<\/a><\/strong>, one of the most famous scientists the world has ever known. Two Nobel Prizes. Before she became known as Marie Curie, she was simply Maria Sk\u0142odowska<\/strong>. Which means that her father\u2019s last name was Sk\u0142odowski<\/strong>. Get it?<\/p>\n\n
\nRemember the famous writer Henryk Sienkiewicz<\/a><\/strong>? One Nobel Prize. (Ah, this list is turning into a Nobel Prize Winners name club, cool!)<\/p>\n\n
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