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GAJEWSKI Family History

Recorded in a number of spellings including Gajewski, Gajownik, Gajewicz, and Gajic, this is a surname of mainly Polish, but sometimes Czech or Croation origins. It derives from the ancient pre 10th century words gaj meaning a wood or grove, with -ow meaning relative of, and -nik, a diminutive, or -ski, indicating land or estate ownership. The latter was originally equivalent to the French preposition of status 'de' or the German 'von', being minor nobility. Loosely the surname without the final suffix, translates as the relative of the forester, and with -nik suggests a translation of the son of the relative of the forester...