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Thomas,
These secondary surnames are just like regular surnames. They arose usually to distinguish among families when several with the same surname lived together in the same village. Like regular surnames, they could be based on a prominent individual's first name or occupation or physical characteristic or any other distinctive feature, as long as it helped to make clear who was being referred to. At first such a "family alias" would be used by a few people in the village, and it would then catch on; eventually it might replace the original surname, which might even by forgotten over the years.
Slovenska Ves is only a couple of miles from the Poprad River, in which there are lots of fish, so it is not out of the question that someone would become known locally as "The Fisherman."
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