For other uses, see Atlantis (disambiguation). Athanasius Kircher's map of Atlantis, placing it in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. From Mundus Subterraneus 1669, published in Amsterdam. The map is oriented with south at the top.
Common Polish family names include Nowak, Kowalski, Wisniewski, Kaminski and Zielinski. As with other cultures, many Polish surnames are based on a profession or place of origin.
The process of forming Polish surnames lasted several centuries. The noble class originally used clan names which later survived in the names of their coats of arms. Particular families within a clan used a surname derived from the name of the village they owned.