Ancestry Chapter 2
Origins of the Norek, Tybus and Other Ancestral Surnames
Surnames
In Eastern Europe, nobles were the first to use surnames, typically the name of the region they controlled. The city populace adopted surnames in the 1600's and the rural in the 1700's.
The surname system continued to be rather loose, with random spelling and suffix changes, until about 1850. As seen below, some spelling variants continued after 1850.
The Origin of the Tybus Surname
The Tybus family name is first seen in western Germany, in the Rheinland region. A Catholic family, and probably a minor noble family.
You can see the expanse of this family by searching the Mormon (or LDS for Latter Day Saints) on-line database. Go to www.familysearch.org and select "search" at the top. Then search on the surnames "Tybus" and "Tibus" -- ignore the many "Tibbs" that will show up on one of these searches. Curious is that the LDS, which proved the best genealogy source, do not have Tybus/Tibus in their database as variant spellings of the same name (which they are).
Please note that the on-line LDS database is not the extent of their holdings. None of my Church-record references are on-line, and many of the microfilms show on their labels that they are not available for circulation in Europe. You can find these holdings in on the LDS website by searching in "library" using "West Prussia" first and then going to the town name.
This is less likely, but there is a Polish surname of Tibuski, which could have been shortened to Tibus. One argument against this theory is that the Tybus/Tibus family spoke "high German" -- unlikely to have been picked up at school in Eastern Europe even during the years school was taught in German.
The Origin of the Lardau Surname
The name Lardau is found in the Rheinland region of Germany, in Barvaria and in France. It presumably was originally French. (The Tybus name is obviously originally Latin.) I am guessing Rheinland or Barvaria over France as the closest link for Christina.
The Origin of the Ponczek Surname
Unquestionably Slavic. No contest here. See additional information below under "Land Registry."
The Origin of the Norek Surname
The earliest Norek record
located was for a Johanna Norek (translates to Joan Norek) who was born on
October 28, 1694, married Gottfried Becker, and died on January 31, 1768 at the
age of 73, all in Kobenhavn, Denmark. The Norek name comes from Denmark? One
possibility.
There are records of the Norek name in West Germany from 1700's. All Evangelical (Protestant) religion from the Soest district of Westfallen, Prussia. The area of Dortmund.
On the other hand, Norek is a fairly common current, and not unknown historic, Polish surname. As a Slavic or Polish name, the "ek" would indicate a diminutive (like "little ____") or an association with... such as "kin of _____."
The Norek name might also be Czech. I have heard this from several sources, and the LDS database shows a 1751 marriage of a Mathaus Norek in Klobouky, Czechoslovakia.
The Norek name is also seen in the LDS historic records in Finland (Lars Norek), and "Norek" is currently the name and trademark of a Finnish computer shop with a website at www.norek.com.
There are Norek's in Germany, including a Norek family with Polish first names. The parents are both doctors -- Dr. Jadwiga Norek and Dr. Wojciech (Walter) Norek. One son, Mikolaj Norek, owns an art gallery -- Galerie Norek -- and the other son, Oliver, writes fantasy stories, some on the Internet, which use the name "Norek" for a city, or a Kaiser, or whatever.
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Princess Cecilia Tybus born 1683, Rheinland, Preuss. (Family Legend)
(Prussia is often seen spelled Preusse or variants, and abbreviated as "Preuss.")
A Cecilia Tybus is one of the entries in the Rheinland Tybus/Tibus family(ies). She was born to Joanni (Johann) and Adelgunda Tybus, and christened on February 16, 1683, at St. Matthias Catholic church in Hohenbudberg, Rheinland, Prussia. Her entry is on the public LDS database at www.familysearch.org.
Cecelia Norek had a genealogy done. (Several sources for this story.) The genealogist reported that her family was descended from a noble German family, and that she was named after Princess Cecilia, one of her ancestors. Cecelia was thereafter hassled by her brother Steve who called her "the Persian Princess."
Some truth in every family legend. The legend I heard had this noble family in the Norek lineage. But since a probably-noble Cecilia Tybus was born in 1683, the genealogist probably was looking at the Tybus lineage, not the Norek lineage. And he was probably correct that we are descendents of that noble Tybus family.
But we could not be descendants of the historic Cecilia Tybus because her children would have taken their father's name. And the "named after" part -- the Cecilia's are born two centuries apart -- maybe, maybe not.
Land Register of 1772-1773
A Land Register of West Prussia called the Kontributionskataster was taken in 1772-1773 at the order of Frederick the Great, as a foundation for introducing Prussian taxes in this newly acquired regions of West Prussia and District of Netze River. It was a "head of household" type of survey.
There are no Norek's on this list.
There is a Sim. Tibus of Karbowo (Karwowo) -- which was in the vicinity of Marienwerder, the initial capital of West Prussia. Does this entry defeat the theory of a Germanic lineage for our Tybus/Tibus family?
There is a George Ponczek in Kopitkowo, a West Prussian town. There also is a Georgius Ponczek in Skurz, a West Prussian town about 40 miles south/south-east of Dirschau. "Ponczek" is an ancestral name to second-batchers. It is a Polish/Slavic name, and these entries suggest that the name was established in the region before it became West Prussia -- a province of Prussia.
