Brzeziński is a Polish surname derived from the root word "brzoza" ("brzez-" in some compound words), meaning "birch". The adjective suffix "ski" means "being like" or "belonging to", so Brzeziński refers to a person from one of the localities named for a concentration of birch trees, such as Brzezina, (a small village in Western Pomerania). In Polish, Brzeziński has an accent mark over the letter "ń", making the Polish pronunciation "bzhe-ZEEN-ski".
The Brzeziński surname was originally borne only by the szlachta, the Polish noble class, who took their names from their estates, but it later spread to the working and peasant classes as well. It is known to be associated with at least nine different coats of arms:
- Dołęga coat of arms (originating in eastern Poland)
- Doliwa coat of arms (originating in Łęczyca)
- Gryf coat of arms (borne by the two Brzeziński families ennobled by the Tsar in his role as "King of Poland" in the 19th century)
- Kościesza coat of arms
- Łabędź coat of arms (originating in Sandomierz)
- Lubicz coat of arms (originating in Płock)
- Prus III coat of arms
- Trąby coat of arms (originating in Kraków)
- Zabawa coat of arms
There were 25,361 persons with the name Brzeziński in Poland in 1990. The name has been borne by many notable Poles and persons of Polish descent, including:
Read more about Brzeziński: In Poland, In Other Countries