godów

Godów is the name of several places in Poland. It is used for small villages in different parts of the country, with a notable concentration in the southern regions. Because several localities share this name, the exact administrative affiliation of each Godów varies; in Polish practice, such villages are typically part of a larger gmina (municipality) within a voivodeship.

The places named Godów are generally rural in character. They are small settlements surrounded by agricultural land or countryside, and many have parish churches dating to the 19th century or earlier. Local histories in these villages reflect broader patterns of Polish regional development, including agriculture, mining in some areas, and migration to cities.

The etymology of Godów is not uniform. In Polish toponymy, it may derive from personal names, old words describing a landscape, or historical professions associated with the site. The recurrence of the name across different regions illustrates how toponymy in Poland preserves medieval and early modern linguistic layers.

Because Godów refers to more than one place, it is often clarified by additional geographic identifiers (such as the voivodeship or the gmina) in maps and official records.