Can anyone tell me the origin of the surname "Ruk"?

**Creaticia** · 07-04-2023, 05:27 PM

It refers to my 2nd great-grandmother. I'd like to know more because I know almost nothing about this side of my family.

What I do know is that she lived in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship in the late 19th / early 20th century.

I just don't think this name sounds Polish; I've already searched several sites and can't find her birth certificate.

What could its origin be?

**Creaticia** · 07-06-2023, 08:52 AM

Uppp

**~~LaSentinelle~~** · 07-06-2023, 08:53 AM

Are you 100% sure it's spelled as 'Ruk'?

**Creaticia** · 07-06-2023, 09:07 AM

According to his daughter's marriage certificate that I have (which was drawn up in France), I think so.

**Creaticia** · 07-06-2023, 09:09 AM

Her first name isn't "Catherine", it's just that in the early 20th century, all first names were French on official documents.

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**~~LaSentinelle~~** · 07-06-2023, 09:32 AM

It's very close to a Southern Russian/Ukrainian/Belarusian word for movement 'Rukh' (Рух), perhaps when they were filling out the documents they misheard 'Rukh' as 'Ruk'. There is a Ukrainian minority in that Voivodeship too. Albeit Рух is not a real surname in Ukraine. I've also found that the surname Ruk can be found in Bosnia and Croatia. I used 'Ruk prezime' as my google search prompt. https://actacroatica.com/en/surname/Ruk/ and https://www.arz.hr/znacenje-i-porijeklo-prezimena-ruk/ . I wouldn't trust these websites since any website that specialises in 'surname history' is often a load of rubbish. But maybe this will give you a clue.
I'm still quite confident that Ruk is just a misspelling of some actual surname. Probably a German "Rück" or Ruck, or even Ruch. Old documents are often like that. Some of my ancestral surnames have also been misspelled, so we had a family of 'Chernyshov' living in the same village with 'Chernyshev'. In my case I managed to solve the mystery by looking up the documents from 1670s and finding my ancestors there with the correct spelling of their surnames. I hope you will find something too.
I'd suggest for you to search for her other close relatives, perhaps another 'Catherine' will come up, but that time with a surname Ruch or Rück.

**Creaticia** · 07-06-2023, 09:38 AM

Thanks a lot for looking. Unfortunately it will be very complicated for the search for close relatives if the name is misspelled; and concerning her husband he had a very common surname in Poland so it was impossible to find a trace.

I had also found a site ( https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index...date=&to_date= ) but obviously nothing