rodzice chrzestni

Chrzestny comes from chrzest, baptism, so rodzice chrzestni are literally baptismal parents. In the narrative registers they usually come near the end of the entry, after the child's name, in the form a rodzicami chrzestnymi byli, and the godparents were.

Older entries may instead say that a man trzymał do chrztu, held the child at the baptism. The words kum and kuma also mean godfather and godmother. Godparents were sometimes a married couple, and their names are worth noting as possible relatives or neighbors.