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Polish family name Bielski is classified as being of nickname origin. Surnames which are derived from a nickname are said to constitute one of the widest and most varied classes of family names. This particular category encompases many different types of origin. The most obvious are those names which are based on a physical characteristic or personal attribute of the individual bearer. In this particular instance, the surname Bielski was derived from the old Salvic element "byel", meaning "white". Thus, the initial bearer of the nickname Bielski would have been a person who had very fair complexion and/or white hair. By the same token, there are towns in north eastern Poland called Biel and Bielsk, it is likely that some original bearers of the family name Bielski hailed from those settlements. One of the earliest references to this name is a record of one Martin Bielski, a Polish author and historian who was born in 1495. However, research is of course ongoing and this name may have been documented earlier than the date indicated above.

Polish marriages and christenings were recorded in church documents as far back as the early seventeenth century, and indicate that by that time, many Polish family names were already fixed and hereditary. Indeed, it is quite likely that these names were well established as hereditary names before they were formally registered by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority. Among additional references to this surname is an entry dated 15 February 1774, regarding the wedding of Bogislaw Bielski and Sophia Schreibern, which was celebrated at Tabor Wielki in the region of Poznan. Several noble Bielski families displayed the arms of the Clan Jelita, as described below.