[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Arystyny

[Jerry Frank]

I agree with Annegret that Arystyny appears to be more of a title than a 
name.  It is not a Polish variant of Antonia which would be very similar in 
form.  I have never seen such a name in any of my research nor does an 
Internet search produce any results.

It appears from your description that the "name" comes from your family 
lore so I would consider it adjectival or titular until you can find an 
actual document that shows it.  I don't think that knowledge of a noble 
connection will help at this stage anyway since Schultz is a such common 
surname.

In case you didn't know, Schultz translates directly as mayor.  That does 
not, however, result in any specific nobility implication as many, many 
peasant class people carried that surname.  On the other hand, it is 
possible that such a connection might have worked its way into your family 
lore, resulting in thoughts about aristocracy.

Having said all that, by playing with sounds alike vowels, I did determine 
that Aristina is a legitimate, though uncommon, female name which gets over 
200 GOOGLE hits, mostly French in origin but at least one that might be Polish.



At 02:07 PM 10/07/2003 -0700, judikat wrote:
>Hello,
>
>My great-great grandmother's full name was given as Antonia C[h]ristina
>Arystyny SCHULZ, said to be "of Polish aristocracy" who was disowned by her
>family [presumably either because of class or religious differences] when
>she married Daniel WEICH, probably a German Lutheran who moved to
>Aleksandrowka before 1853.
>
>My question is about the "arystyny" in her name.  Does it have special
>meaning?  Is it the Polish form of "Antonia" or is it a surname?  She went
>by "Christina" and sometimes showed up as "Christiana" in the St Pete's
>Volhynian birth records of her children.
>
>We have been unable to discover any information about her or her SCHULZ
>family.
>
>Would appreciate any insight.  Thank you.

Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
jkfrank at shaw.ca