Was Gretzky Polish, Ukrainian or Belarusian?

[blankall]

Yes. BTW -by & -son endings are from Norse origin.

For the -son ending I'd say it's more complicated. Similar suffixes are found in all Germanic languages. They are often then anglicized to a simpler -son.

So for example you could have a German name ending in -sen , but then anglicized to -son. For example Jansen is a common Bavarian name that might be changed to Johnson upon arrival in the USA or UK.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Lots of Scottish and Scots-Irish ancestry all throughout Canada. You’ll find Scottish ancestry throughout all Canada, hence why Canadians are so damn tough overall lol.

The east coast Province of Nova Scotia literally translates to New Scotland.

The Fathers of Canadian Confederation were essentially mostly Scottish Protestants and French Catholics. Many, many Canadian Prime Ministers were of Scottish descent.

As somebody that’s a generation from Scotland, no wonder my old man moved to northern Maine lol.

 

[snipes]

If you dig into everyone’s ancestry you’ll find all kinds of things you never knew about. Going on the prime minister part, the Trudeau’s are part Singaporean and Malaysian lol

That’s funny, sticking with the theme he’s mostly French Canadian and Scottish ancestry. So, like a mix of both of every Prime Minister before him? Lol people of Scottish and French descent have dominated the highest positions in government since basically Confederation and before that.

But yeah, he’s also got distant Singaporean and Malaysian in him as well apparently. Also he’s the 5th grandson of William Farquhar from Aberdeen, Scotland who ended up being one of the first British residents and commandants of Singapore. Interesting.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Highly unlikely. Iceland still doesn't use family names and one of the few places in the world to use the son/daughter of system:

Icelandic name - Wikipedia

It's a might Ducks joke.

 

[Riddum]

Soviet Russia

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

I've always heard he was of Ukrainian descent. I had a Polish grandmother so that part of Europe in the last century is quite interesting and often confusing (not to mention horrifying).

Not that any of that matters, Wayne Gretzky is a white so he's just part of that white culture thingy, it's all the same.

 

[mattihp]

Idy love for a lithuanian burst in and claim the family as their own

 

[User9992]

Idy love for a lithuanian burst in and claim the family as their own

But lithuanians don't have -owski, -ski, -cki surname endings, do they? (Which are slavic)

Rather -s, -is, -as, -us like Sabonis, Valanciunas, Iglauskas or -te like Paulauskaite, Gribauskaite etc.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Yes

 

[mattihp]

But lithuanians don't have -owski, -ski, -cki surname endings, do they? (Which are slavic)

Rather -s, -is, -as, -us like Sabonis, Valanciunas, Iglauskas or -te like Paulauskaite, Gribauskaite etc.

During the polish-lithuanian days there were lots of lithuanians with slavic names. Name changes can confuse too. Hungary and Finland are examples of mishmash due to name changes.

Some Hungarians took germanic names, some took slavic during the Austro-hungarian empire depending on where they lived their lives. Slavs within the empire could also take Hungarian names.. Much like several germanic names were made into Hungarian names.

In Finland fennoswedes took finnish names whilst some finns kept their swedish names even if their family had no ties to what is now Sweden.

 

[Eisen]

Not really. Typical russian surname that ends with -in. OvechkIN, MalkIN etc.

Sundin

 

[mattihp]

Sundin

Pérrin

 

[Eisen]

For the -son ending I'd say it's more complicated. Similar suffixes are found in all Germanic languages. They are often then anglicized to a simpler -son.

So for example you could have a German name ending in -sen , but then anglicized to -son. For example Jansen is a common Bavarian name that might be changed to Johnson upon arrival in the USA or UK.

Jansen is not that common in Bavaria. Perhaps if they moved there. This is a low German name.

 

[Eisen]

Pérrin

Desjardin(s)

 

[Statto]

It's always interesting to note that every Canadian/American has ancestors in Europe or somewhere else in the World. I would be curious to know the Habs' ancestors history for exemple. Just going by their name;

Gallagher - Irish
Price/Byron/Anderson/Caufield/Evans/Allen/Perry/Edmundson - English
Suzuki - Japanese
Danault/Drouin - French
Weber - German
Kulak - Russian
Staal - Dutch
Chiarot - Italian

Most, not every.

 

[Statto]

Lots of Scottish and Scots-Irish ancestry all throughout Canada. You’ll find Scottish ancestry throughout all Canada, hence why Canadians are so damn tough overall lol.

The east coast Province of Nova Scotia literally translates to New Scotland.

The Fathers of Canadian Confederation were essentially mostly Scottish Protestants and French Catholics. Many, many Canadian Prime Ministers were of Scottish descent.

It’s was the Scots that brought hockey to Canada.

 

[User9992]

Jansen is not that common in Bavaria. Perhaps if they moved their. This is a low German name.

Kessel is low german surname? What about Reimer, Getzlaf or Toews?

 

[Albatros]

Indeed, but on the other hand you have words like huisje, where it is not uncommon to pronounce it with an [ʃ]. Or sjaal. Or the famous nijntje.

Yeah, it's true that -sj diminutives are commonly pronounced as [ʃ], it's a good example. Nijntje I think rather [c] following the nasal.

 

[Eisen]

Kessel is low german surname? What about Reimer, Getzlaf or Toews?

Kessel sounds neither distinctively north or south or from anywhere. I know there was a noble lineage in Limburg /Hessen named like that. I lived sort of close, so I know. Reimer probably stems from the common medieval given name Reinmar. This name was spread all over the place. No idea about Getzlaf. Could be German. If it's German, it's almost certainly East German. Toews doesn't look German at all to me.

 

[treple13]

Kessel sounds neither distinctively north or south or from anywhere. I know there was a noble lineage in Limburg /Hessen named like that. I lived sort of close, so I know. Reimer probably stems from the common medieval given name Reinmar. This name was spread all over the place. No idea about Getzlaf. Could be German. If it's German, it's almost certainly East German. Toews doesn't look German at all to me.

Reimer and Toews are both common Mennonite names, which have low German roots (although their ancestors likely emigrated to Canada from what is now the Ukraine)

 

[Nut Upstrom]

Finish this sentence:
A Pole, A Ukrainian and a Belarusian all walk into a bar, the bartender says...

 

[Oddbob]

I thought he was American at first. I thought Bond was American at first too.

Are you for real about Gretzky being American?

 

[mattihp]

Are you for real about Gretzky being American?

I thought so when I was a kid too. After all, he congratulated the american team in the Goodwill games in Mighty Ducks. A tournament in which the Canadian team also played..

 

[Husqvarna]

Everybody is a immigrant in Canada/USA more or less - that young continent it is; remember as late as in the year 1900 Chicago was Sweden next largest city after Stockholm, for an example.

The really "true" Americans in the NHL is few and far between:

https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-best-all-time-indigenous-players/

Here's a song for ya folks:

 

[banks]

Charlize Theron is African American.

Heritage and genealogy are not always as simple as they seem.