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[Surname] Prudowskaja
My grandfather immigrated to the US via Ellis Island in 1912. His name was changed. His original documents have recently been located and we've discovered his original name: Prudowskaja. I'm looking for information on this surname. Meaning, history, origin, anything! My research thus far as not brought much information. I do know that he was a Jew and came from Russia. There may be some connections with either Lithuania or what is now the country of Georgia. I know this is a long shot, but if you have any guidance for me, please advise. Thank you.
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Prudowskaja is the feminine form of Prudovsky which is derived from the placename Prudowe according to Guggenheimer & Guggenheimer's Jewish Family Names and Their Origins.
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If it is spelt in the Latin alphabet, it is Western Slavic: Polish, Czech, Slovakian etc. As @Babochka I'm also leaning more towards Polish because thus far I'm met similar surnames among Poles.
Also, in 1912 these peoples and lands were part of the Russian Empire.

This message was edited 9/27/2022, 4:46 AM

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If he came from Russia, then maybe his surname was something akin to Prudowsky? I do know that is an actual surname, so maybe he changed it to the different-sounding Prudowskaja. That could be an explanation albeit implausible, considering how close it is, but it's what I'm offering :)
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Sounds like a Polish surname for me, a feminine form of Prudowskij/Prudowsky.
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It’s probably related to Prudowsky https://forebears.io/surnames/prudowsky. The suffix -owsky, and therefore -owskaja, is common in Russian surnames, so I’ve focused on the meaning of Prud. In Russian, it means pond.
Hope this helped; my grandfather emigrated from Poland to England and also changed his surname, so I had similar trouble.
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Your information is helpful. Thank you so much for this!
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