Polish Family Relationship Names Explained (English to Polish Guide)

Polish is one of the more genealogically rewarding languages to learn family vocabulary in, because it draws sharper lines than English does - separate words for a maternal uncle versus a paternal uncle, and for in-laws depending on which side of the marriage they're on. If you have Polish ancestry, or you're working through Polish parish and civil records, this guide covers the core terms in English to Polish.

Immediate Family

English	Polish
Father	ojciec (informal: tata)
Mother	matka (informal: mama)
Son	syn
Daughter	córka
Brother	brat
Sister	siostra
Husband	mąż
Wife	żona
Parents	rodzice
Siblings	rodzeństwo

Rodzeństwo is worth learning early: it's a single collective noun for "siblings" that doesn't specify gender or number, which is genuinely convenient compared to English needing "brothers and sisters."

Grandparents

• dziadek - grandfather, babcia - grandmother
• pradziadek / prababcia - great-grandfather / great-grandmother
• wnuk / wnuczka - grandson / granddaughter

Uncles and Aunts: The Maternal-Paternal Split

This is the feature that most surprises English speakers. Traditional Polish distinguishes which side of the family an uncle or aunt is on:

• wuj (or the more modern, increasingly common wujek) - a maternal uncle, your mother's brother
• stryj - a paternal uncle, your father's brother (this word is falling out of everyday use, with wujek increasingly used for both sides in casual speech)
• ciotka (informal: ciocia) - aunt, used for either side, though older usage sometimes distinguished stryjenka (paternal uncle's wife) from wujenka (maternal uncle's wife)

If you're reading older Polish parish records or letters, seeing stryj rather than wuj is actually a useful clue about which branch of the family a document is describing.

Cousins, Nieces, and Nephews

• kuzyn / kuzynka - male / female cousin
• siostrzeniec / siostrzenica - nephew / niece through a sister
• bratanek / bratanica - nephew / niece through a brother

Just like with aunts and uncles, Polish tracks nieces and nephews by which sibling they descend from - a nephew through your sister has a different word than a nephew through your brother. This level of specificity is genuinely useful for genealogy, since it tells you the family line at a glance without extra context.

In-Laws

Polish in-law terms are also side-specific and among the most detailed of any European language:

• teść / teściowa - father-in-law / mother-in-law
• zięć - son-in-law
• synowa - daughter-in-law
• szwagier / szwagierka - brother-in-law / sister-in-law
• swat / swatowa - the parents of your child's spouse, relative to each other (a relationship English has no single word for at all)

That last one, swat, is a good example of how Polish family vocabulary sometimes covers relationships English speakers don't typically name directly - your child's spouse's parents, from your point of view.

Step-Family Terms

• ojczym - stepfather
• macocha - stepmother
• pasierb / pasierbica - stepson / stepdaughter
• przyrodni brat / przyrodnia siostra - half-brother / half-sister

Why the Detail Matters for Genealogy

Polish genealogical research, especially through Catholic parish books and Austrian, Prussian, or Russian partition-era civil records, often uses these precise relationship terms rather than generic ones. Knowing that stryj means specifically a paternal uncle, not just "an uncle," can help you correctly place a name on the right branch of a family tree instead of guessing. It's a small vocabulary difference that can save real time once you're working through handwritten 19th-century records.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Polish word for grandmother?

Babcia is the everyday word for grandmother, widely used both formally and affectionately. The more formal term is babka, though babcia is by far the more common in modern usage.

Does Polish have different words for a mother's brother and a father's brother?

Traditionally yes: wuj is a maternal uncle and stryj is a paternal uncle, though in modern casual Polish, wujek is increasingly used for both.

What does "rodzeństwo" mean?

It's a collective noun meaning "siblings," referring to a person's brothers and sisters together without needing to specify gender or count them individually.

What is a "swat" in Polish family terms?

Swat describes the relationship between two sets of parents whose children have married each other - a relationship that English has no direct single word for.

Is Polish family vocabulary the same across Poland and Polish diaspora communities?

The core terms are the same, but diaspora communities, particularly in the US and UK, sometimes simplify side-specific terms like stryj and wuj into the more general wujek for both, mirroring how English doesn't distinguish maternal and paternal uncles.

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