Lipinski
A Polish surname meaning “someone from a place called Lipiny/Lipiń-,” ultimately tied to linden trees.
The #9,038 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 85,407 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lipinski is a Polish surname formed from a place name such as Lipiny or another locality based on lipa, the Polish word for “linden” or “lime tree.” The suffix -ski originally meant “of” or “from,” so the name would have identified someone associated with that place. In many cases it began as a noble-style or land-based surname, later becoming common more broadly.
History
The surname is strongly associated with Poland and Polish-speaking communities, and it spread widely through emigration to North America and elsewhere in the 19th and 20th centuries. English-language records often drop or simplify the Polish letter ń, producing the spelling Lipinski. It is a fairly common Polish surname pattern, with many unrelated families taking their name from different places called Lipiny or similar.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because lipa means “linden tree,” many Polish place-based surnames like this one ultimately point back to landscape and vegetation rather than a single family founder.
Notable people named Lipinski
- Tara Lipinski (b. 1982)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.