Family Name History

Doktorski family name history.

Unlike other medieval European kingdoms, the Polish throne was not hereditary but was occupied by one who was elected by the leading noble families to be King of Poland. It is indeed these “selection lists” which give us an insight into the origin and development of Polish surnames. Another tradition, peculiar to the Polish monarchy, was the granting of the same coat of arms to a number of families. For example, the arms of the Rola family were also borne by at least seventy other families, each with a distinctive surname.

With regard to the Polish surname Doktorski, this name is of occupational origin. Occupational names are those surnames which derive their origin from the work, trade or profession of the initial bearer. In this instance, the surname Doktorski is derived from the Polish doktor which signifies doctor or physician. Doktorski is in fact the adjectival form of the word doctor. Both the English doctor and the Polish doktor derive from the Latin docere, meaning to teach. Variants of this surname include such names as Doktorovic, Doktorovich and Doktorowicz.

References to this name or to a variant include a record of one Fabian Dochtorowicz who was a Jesuit priest famed for his preaching and who died in 1666. One Georg Doktorovich was ennobled in 1802.

—from research by The Historical Research Center.

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