Tatiana,

From the research I've done here, so far it seems that Biegun is a Polish name; the word biegun is a verb for runner in Polish. Does this verify your facts? I know that Poland was occupied by many countries over the century, especially by Russia. Perhaps this is one reason for the name adaptations/variations, and also I found there are distinct Jewish versions of the name which have no direct correlation to the original version. I think you e-mailed a possible relative with some information saying that the Bieguns were a "religious sect." You didn't identify the sect, and "Old Believers" of what? This is very intriguing information. There aren't that many Bieguns even in Poland today, so I sure can't see how we aren't related. My parents and others through the years who are Polish pronounced my name as you referred to it in one of your e-mails. I traced the name Biegun back to 1575 so far in one search, so yes, it seems to be pretty old. I wonder what names our relatives went by before the upheavel? Go to www.mail.com/mailcom/readmail.jhtml?msgid=5336167591 for some information I extracted. Keep in touch. Connie cwatson@post.com