Recorded as Chmiel, Chmiela, Chmel, Chmielewska, Chmielewski, Chmielnicki, Chmieliee (Polish), Chmelar, Chmelik, Chmel, Chmela (Czech), Khmelnytsky (Ukraine), and others, this is a surname of Polish origins. However in its translation it can have different meanings in different parts of Europe whilst retaining the same spelling. For instance in Poland it is usually a habitational name for a person from any of the places which derive from the word "chmiel" meaning hops, although as Chmiela it can also be a medieval nickname for somebody who enjoyed too many hops! In the Czech Republic and the Ukraine it decribes a hop grower, although as Chmelensky it is locational. This is a surname which is well recorded for instance in the USA, although in the British Isles its appearances are very rare indeed. Sadly they are not much better in Poland itself, a country which more than any other, suffered severely in two World Wars, and perhaps even worse, the Communist control that followed. From such registers as exist we have the following dual wedding when Franciska Chmielewska married Ignacy Szalczak at Lubien Kulawski, Bygoskiego, on November 11th 1815, whilst her sister Anastazja Chmielewska married Maciej Wojciech at the same church on the sameday.

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