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Question: Does anybody know the origin of my great-grandmas last name!?
The last name is Kotschorek, its pronounced KA-chore-ick!. Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Kotschorek can also be spelled Kosiorek

Kazimierz Rymut's book on Polish surnames lists this information:

Kosiorek comes from the term kosior, which means "undertaker" and may in turn derive from the basic root kos- which means "blackbird" (presumably the black an undertaker wears is the connection with the bird)!. The suffix -ek is a diminutive, meaning "little," so Kosiorek literally means "little undertaker," but as a surname probably meant more "son of the undertaker!." As of 1990 there were 3,942 Kosiorek's in Poland, as opposed to 3,703 Kosior's, so both names are reasonably common!. The name Kosiorek appears in Polish records as early as 1414; the name Kosior appears even earlier, in 1204!.

So while the word for "blackbird" may figure into it, the direct derivation would appear to be "undertaker's son!." It's possible your surname originally was just Kosior and the diminutive suffix was added later and kosior in turn derived from the word for "blackbird!."

The Eastern European Genealogical Society lists your surname in Bergtal, Samara, Russia!. You can contact the site below to find out more information:
http://www!.eegsociety!.org/surnameindex/s!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com