Bodirsky name origin?

Question

It's always been more or less of a crapshoot, as I've been trying to figure this out for years, but may as well ask here.

I'm Canadian, with a German-born dad and a Polish-Jewish Canadian mother. My grandfather on my dad's side is from the Sudetenland (formerly German-speaking part of the Czech Republic) who was born to a German-speaking Czech Gypsy and an Austrian mom, while my grandmother was Polish-born to a Prussian father and a Russian mother.

Now nearly everyone I have consulted about the origin of my surname has given me a different answer, everything from Turkish, to Ukrainian to Czech. My aunt has also discovered a city in Iran called "Bodir", and as far as I know, "-sky" means of or from.

Personally, I consider my heritage as "half Jewish, German-speaking eastern European", but I'd really like to know exactly where my name hails from.

Answer 1

We can make educated guesses, but can't give you a definitive answer with the records available to us. Also remember that the borders in Europe changed in 1918, 1939-40, 1946-49 and 1989-1995. So the same piece of land could have been Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus in less than 100 years.

My suggestion is that you work through the records at the Canadian Archives. Though most aren't online, they are available to you through both the LDS and on microfilm through libraries around the country. Here the places for you to start:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genea...

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genea...

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genea...

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genea...

Your goal is first to find the name of the immigrant ancestor. Then you want to look for him/her in census, passenger and naturalization records. Somewhere in that slew of records you will hopefully find clues to their hometown. After nearly 30 years of European research, my best advice to you is to do your best to keep from jumping to conclusions. Spellings changed in history based sometimes on nothing logical. People will try telling you that a certain suffix definitively belongs to one country. The reality is different. People and names changed, spellings changed, borders changed, and record-takers sometimes had lousy spelling. Just find the records and follow them wherever they lead you.

Answer 2

Umm...yeah, that's a tough one. I could say that you are Ukrainian but it's gonna be really hard to figure out because all the countries you metioned before they are from what used to be AustriaHungria. I could tell it's not Russian, Polish

or Turkish. My best guess is that it is Ukrainian. Hope this helps.