Overview

My main reason for researching the surname BONDZIO is its possible relatedness to BADZIO. I would like to find out whether the two have a common origin (for example, whether Badzio is simply a spelling variation of Bondzio).

As with Badzio, I am concentrating on studying Bondzio occurrence in the former East Prussia (now woj. Warmińsko-mazurskie, Poland), but I have just learned of its bearers having lived in the Russian part of Poland at the turn of the twentieth century.

Two spellings of the surname root (BONDZIO and BĄDZIO), as well as several different endings, are used interchangeably in the East Prussian records. The diacritical mark by the "a", which is called "ogonek" in Polish, makes the "a" sound like a nasal "o", the fact that explains the interchangeability of the two surname spellings. Could the ogonek have been dropped in some cases, to produce the spelling "badzio"? I don't have an answer to that question.

It seems significant to me, however, that a place name search (such as on pilot.pl or with the ShtetlSeeker) produces several hits of places whose name starts with "Bondz" or "Bądz", but none starting with "Badz". It is interesting to note that two out of the four "Bądz" places found by pilot.pl are located in the East and West Prussia: Bądzie Wieś (gm. Górowo-Iławeckie, pow. Bartoszycki, woj. Warmińsko-mazurskie; coordinates 20º 33´ E - 54º 14´ N) and Bądze Wieś (gm. Stary Dzierzgoń, pow. Malborski, woj. Pomorskie; coordinates 19º 28´ E - 53º 47´ N)

You can find additional information on Bondzios by doing a search at the FamilySearch™ site. "Slownik nazwisk wspólczesnie w Polsce uzywanych", ed. by Prof. Kazimierz Rymut is an excellent source on the current surname occurrence in Poland. Finally, doing an international telephone book search will tell you what other countries have residents with this surname.

Finally, there has been a publication on Bondzios from Oratzen, kreis Lyck in Altpreußische Geschlechterkunde Familienarchiv. 2001. Bd. 23. S. 123-147).