Zieliński ( [ʑɛˈliɲski]; feminine: Zielińska, plural Zielińscy) is the eighth most common surname in Poland (91,522 people in 2009), and is also common in other countries in various forms. The first Polish records of the surname date to the 15th century. Without diacritical marks, it is spelled Zielinski. The Russianized form is Zelinsky.
Polish surnames ending in "-ski" are of toponymic origin, meaning they identify someone as an inhabitant of a given community, and not through association with what the name's root meant. Thus, given the great number of similarly named localities, linguistically Zielin, Zielinca, Zieliniec and Zielińsk would be the most perfect matches. Some others might include Zieleniec, Zielinice, Zieleniew, Zieleniewo, Zieleń, Zielęcice, Zielięcin, Zielniczki, Zielniki and Zielona.
Polish: a toponymic surname, with the toponym stemming from the word zieleń, meaning the color green, or referring to vibrancy and youth. It also could have originated from the word 'zioło', meaning plant or herb.
Jewish (Ashkenazic, from Poland): a habitational name for someone from places in Poland called Zielona or Zielonka, deriving from the root word meaning green.
German: the name is also particularly well-established in Germany due to migration patterns over centuries. The Germanized version of this surname is Zelinsky or Saleznicky, usually found in the Silesia region.
Clans and Polish coats of arms
Due to the sheer size and frequency distribution of the name, it is difficult to trace common origins or use of armigerous coats of arms (herby) in the Polish clan system.
Anna Zielinski, actress, most recently as Carly Victor on the TV series 'Bones'
Chad Zielinski, Catholic bishop in the United States
Damian Zieliński, Polish cyclist
Ewa Zielińska, Polish Paralympic athlete
Jacek Zieliński, retired Polish national team soccer player and coach of Lechia Gdańsk in the Polish Ekstraklasa
Lidia Zielińska, Polish composer
Piotr Zieliński, Polish association football player
Anthony Zielinski is a Milwaukee Common Council Alderman and a Democratic Candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
Ingeborg W. Zielinski was elected Miss Curacao 1973 and participated in the Miss Universe 1973
Tadeusz Stefan Zieliński was a prominent classical philologist, historian, translator of Sophocles, Euripides and other classical authors into Russian. He was the author of works on history of Ancient Greek culture and religion, classical education, and popularizaton of classical studies (published largely in Russian and German).
Tomasz Zieliński, Polish weightlifter
Robert F Zielinski, Polish American lawyer, photographer, boulevardier, world traveler, merry-prankster and Anthony Bourdain look-a-like.
