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The surname Gutkowski is of Polish origin. Surnames in Poland seem to have gradually come into use from the eleventh century onwards. The use of these hereditary family names was, at first, confined to the nobility and clergy. These tended to take as their surname the name of the estate on which they lived or which they owned. One of the earliest record of a family name in Poland is a reference to one Robert Korab who was ''castellan'' or ''custodian'' of Sierada in 1088. A tradition, peculiar to the Polish monarchy, was the granting of the same coat of arms to a number of families. For example, the arms of the Rola family were also borne by at least seventy other families each with a distinctive surname. With regard to the surname Gutkowski bearers of this name or a variant may dispaly the Slepowron blazon of arms. With regard to the Polish surname Gutkowski and its more well known variant Gutowski this name is of toponymic origin. Toponymic names are those surnames which derive their origin from a particular place name near which the original bearer resided or held land.