Recorded in several spelling forms including: Cejka, Czadla, Czaja, Czajka, Czajkowska , Czajkowski, Chaikovski, and the famous Tchaikovsky, this is a surname of Polish origins, although with input from other nations particularly Russia. It derives from the ancient Polish word "czajka" meaning "lapwing" as in the bird, and cognescent with the Russian "chaika". However whilst this would suggest that the name is a nickname for somebody who was believed by his associates to represent in someway the habits of the bird, this is not so. It is apparently a locational surname from a place in Poland called Czajka, and to this has at various times been added suffix such as "ow" meaning belonging too, and "ski or ska" originally implying land ownership in Czajka, and often used as a status designation. It is similar to the French "de" or the German "von". It is said that the spelling as Tchaikovsky and relating to the famous composer, is a French romanization of the Cyrillic spelling. The recordings of the surname are rare before the 19th century, but this is more to do with the loss and destruction of the early registers during the social upheavals of the past two centuries, rather than an inditement in anyway of the originality of the surname. Examples of recordings taken from known records include: Floriano Czaja whose daughter Marrianam was christened at Himmelwitz, Schelesien, Germany, on February 4th 1777, Tomasz Czajkowski, a witness at Klobka, Bydgoskiego, Poland, on January 1st 1801, and Bernhard Czajka, the son of Michael, christened at Gruadenz, East Prussia, on February 9th 1851.

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