Malinowscy

Malinowscy is a Polish surname derived from the personal name Malin, a diminutive of the given name Małgorzata (Margaret) or a reference to the word „malina” (raspberry). The suffix –ski, traditionally indicating noble or land‑owning origin, became widespread among various social strata in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later in modern Poland. As a plural form, Malinowscy denotes members of families bearing the name.

The surname appears in historical records dating to the 16th century, primarily among the szlachta (nobility) of Mazovia and Lesser Poland. In the partitions of Poland, bearers of the name were recorded in cadastral rolls and military conscriptions, reflecting a dispersion across the former territories of the Commonwealth. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, emigrants named Malinowski settled in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina, where the name was sometimes anglicised to Malinowski or Malin.

Notable individuals with the surname include Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942), a pioneering anthropologist whose fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands established the functionalist approach in cultural anthropology; Janusz Malinowski (born 1955), a Polish footballer who played for Legia Warsaw and the national team; and Anna Malinowska (born 1979), a contemporary visual artist known for installations that explore memory and identity. The name also appears in literature, such as the fictional Malinowski family in the Polish novel “Cienie nad Wisłą,” symbolising the transition from aristocratic tradition to modern professional life.

Today, Malinowscy can be found throughout Poland and among diaspora communities, with the surname ranking among the several thousand most common Polish family names. It remains a marker of cultural heritage and linguistic continuity within the Polish onomastic tradition.