Okolica szlachecka

In Poland, okolica szlachecka (neighbourhood of the nobility) is a complex of several villages of the same first part of the name and different second part. In the past, it was a single settlement, but later it has split, as the property has been divided into several inheritors. Such localities are usually inhabited by yeomanry (drobna szlachta). They are common in the borderland of Mazovia and Podlachia. Many frequent toponymic (often noble) surnames are derived from their names.