Family name origins & meanings
- German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) : regional name for someone from Silesia, German Schlesien, Schlesing ‘Silesia’ (Polish Śląsk). The area was named for the Silingae, a Germanic people who occupied the region before being displaced by Slavs in the 8th century ad. It has been governed at different times by Prussia and by Poland. Since 1945 it has been part of Poland. Other places named with the same element include Schleusingen in Saxony, Schlenzig in Pomerania, and Schlenz in Silesia itself, and it is possible that in some instances the surname derives from one of these.