To My Polish and/or Lithuanian buddies: Help with a town name?

[CordedWhelp]

Hello...I am an American with an ancestor from what is now Vilnius (but during the time of his birth, was more Poland...and confusingly, under the Russian empire...)

One record I have found stated specifics: The town he was from (his last name was Pawlowski) was "Kriwicz", the state
"Vilno" (Vilnius, I assume), Poland.

Any useful info that could be contributed would be very much so appreciated.

[rashka]

Krivic definitely sounds Slavic.

I can only think of 2 words that come close to Krivic.

Guilty, Bend, Crooked
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kriv

Hide
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kriti

It might have something to do with the town having a bend or river in it.

[Roy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krivichs

Kriviche were East Slavic tribe ...

[Temujin]

Hello...I am an American with an ancestor from what is now Vilnius (but during the time of his birth, was more Poland...and confusingly, under the Russian empire...)

One record I have found stated specifics: The town he was from (his last name was Pawlowski) was "Kriwicz", the state
"Vilno" (Vilnius, I assume), Poland.

Any useful info that could be contributed would be very much so appreciated.

It was in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After partition Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth a Vilnius governate was formed in Russian Empire.

See the map of Vilnius Governate in 1867-1914. Kriwicz may had been on the Belarusian territory. I am only guessing.

[Hercus Monte]

Pawlowski would probably be the polish equivalent of Paulauskas in Lithuanian.

and since this was in the Russian empire. that town, Kriwicz, was probably in modern day Belarus.

[CordedWhelp]

With some research online, I have (under different sites) ran into a few other descendants of Pawlowkis from Vilnius or the general Vilnius area. I wonder if it was a matter of native Lithuanian Paulauskas adopting the Polish variant, for the sake of becoming "Polonized" for the prestige it would bring.

[Hercus Monte]

With some research online, I have (under different sites) ran into a few other descendants of Pawlowkis from Vilnius or the general Vilnius area. I wonder if it was a matter of native Lithuanian Paulauskas adopting the Polish variant, for the sake of becoming "Polonized" for the prestige it would bring.

I would suspect that they considered themselves polish at the time. it was only in 1918 people had to choose if they want to be Pawlowski or Paulauskas. I doubt you have actual polish ancestry. your ancestors probably were Belorussians.

[CordedWhelp]

Thanks for all the swift information, everyone. It's all been noted, with an open mind.

[rashka]

Krivic definitely sounds Slavic.

I can only think of 2 words that come close to Krivic.

Guilty, Bend, Crooked
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kriv

Hide
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kriti

It might have something to do with the town having a bend or river in it.

Now that I looked further and saw the city name Vilnius in Lithuania which is named after the Vilnia river going though it, I can say that my post is not so far off The etymology of Vilnia would come from the Slavic word val for wave or velik for large, big.
About the river Neris.
Dual naming

The reasons for the dual naming of the river as Neris by the Lithuanians and Viliya (formerly Velja, meaning "big, great" in Slavic) by the Slavs are complex. Even in Vilnius, there are toponyms including both names, e. g. Neris remains in the riverside names of Paneriai and Paneriškės while Velja is a part of the name Valakampiai, which means "an angle of Velja" in Lithuanian.

Although it has been suggested that Neris is the primeval name of the river, while name Viliya is of a secondary extraction, the dual naming most probably emerged from the confluence of rivers Neris (now known as Narach River, leaving Lake Narach) and Velja, in the historical Slavic/Baltic borderland, each ethnos choosing their own name for the river starting at the confluence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neris

btw, in Serbian to dive is: gnjuriti.

[Temujin]

The etymology of Kriwicz is debated among scholars. Some say it's Slavic, others say it has Baltic origins. The theory of Baltic origin of the term presents strong arguments despite the existence of a tribe Krivichs in Belarus. Kriwicz may had been a Slavic version of a town in Lithuania renamed to a Lithuanian version later.

I found a small town called Kryvičy (Kriwiczi) in northern Minsk region, Belarus. The town was in Vilna voivodship in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before the partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was also part of Vilnius Governate in the Russian empire between 1867-1914.







https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kryvi...larus&t=m&z=11