Bolesław
Slavic to the core, put together from roots that mean "great glory". Around 17,600 men carry it and not a single woman ever has, though it stays uncommon enough that meeting one tends to stick.
Bolesław Pronunciation
Bolesław is pronounced bo-LES-wahf (/bɔˈlɛswaf/).
What Bolesław means
Where Bolesław comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Bolesław comes from Slavic roots. The first part, bole, means "great" or "more"; the second, sław, means "glory." Put them together and you get wielka sława, great glory.
The name belonged to kings. Bolesław Chrobry, Bolesław the Brave, was crowned the first king of Poland in 1025, and later rulers took the same name after him. A boy called Bolesław grew up sharing his name with the men who built the early Polish state.
Everyday speech softens it. The diminutive is Bolek, the form a brother or a classmate would use. The cross-gender Bolesława hands the same glory to a daughter.
In the nineteenth century the writer Aleksander Głowacki chose Bolesław Prus as his pen name, and it is under that borrowed first name that his novels are still read. Call the roll in a Polish class today and you may still hear Bolek answer to great glory.
How many people are named Bolesław
1 in 1213 men in Poland is named Bolesław. 17,605 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #289 among male names.
Bolesław's popularity over time
43 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #373 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2004. Still the #289 name among living men, even as it slips to #373 among newborns.
Where Bolesław is most popular
Bolesław is most popular in Lower Silesian, 66% above the national average (34 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+51%) and Masovian (+36%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Lublin, 56% and 55% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian34 boys born+66%
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Pomeranian29 boys born+51%
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Masovian63 boys born+36%
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Greater Poland33 boys born+17%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian16 boys born+12%
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Opole6 boys born0%
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West Pomeranian11 boys born0%
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Lesser Poland29 boys born−2%
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Lubusz6 boys born−7%
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Warmian-Masurian8 boys born−15%
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Łódź12 boys born−27%
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Podlaskie5 boys born−42%
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Silesian17 boys born−43%
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Lublin6 boys born−55%
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Subcarpathian7 boys born−56%
Bolesław as a middle name
Bolesław is a first name for 17,605 men in Poland and a middle name for another 24,574, a 42/58 split — almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 82nd, between Wacław (24,968) and Hubert (23,737).
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80
25,610Leon
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81
24,968Wacław
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8224,574Bolesław
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83
23,737Hubert
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84
23,662Zenon