People of the church as reflected in contemporary Polish surnames

Many contemporary Polish surnames motivated by religion are derived from church or monastery positions. Catholicism, dominant in Poland, requires celibacy of clergy and monks; therefore, surnames like Biskup ‘bishop’, Mnich ‘monk’ and Proboszcz ‘parish priest’ developed mostly from nicknames, not as occupational surnames. This finds additional evidence in the high frequency of such surnames as Papież ‘the Pope’ and its variants. Nevertheless, certain surnames, e.g. Kantor ‘(church/synagogue) singer’ or Kościelny ‘sacristan’, reflect church functions performed by non-celibate laymen. The surnames are discussed with respect to their possible origin, semantics and statistics, including positions in other religions alongside Catholic hierarchy.