Edwin
A Germanic name meaning "rich friend". Fewer than 2,500 men in Poland carry it and it's fading further: most Poles have never met one.
Edwin Pronunciation
Edwin is pronounced ED-veen (/ˈɛdvin/).
What Edwin means
Where Edwin comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Edwin grows from Old English Eadwine, where ead meant wealth or good fortune and wine meant friend. The two parts still hold their sense, and together they give the short meaning: rich friend. The origin is Germanic, though the name settled most firmly into English ground.
There was a real Edwin behind the word. Edwin, king of Northumbria in the seventh century, was among the first rulers of those lands to accept baptism, and by one account he lent his name to Edinburgh. After the Norman period the name thinned out, then came back in the nineteenth century when English families reached for older forms.
Edwin travels light. It keeps no Polish diminutives, no softened nursery version, so it stays whole on a class register or an official form at the urząd. A teacher reading it down the list finds nothing to trim.
The friend in the second half was once a marker of loyalty, the wine who stood beside a lord. Fortune sits in the first half, ead, the wealth that gave the name its meaning: rich friend.
When Edwin celebrates name day
Edwin appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 12 October.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Edwin
1 in 9317 men in Poland is named Edwin. 2,291 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #669 among male names.
Edwin's popularity over time
4 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1033 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #669 name among living men, even as it slips to #1033 among newborns.
Where Edwin is most popular
Edwin is most popular in Masovian, 220% above the national average (11 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lesser Poland (+81%) and Łódź (+62%). It is least common in Greater Poland, 4% below average.
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Masovian11 boys born+220%
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Lesser Poland4 boys born+81%
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Łódź2 boys born+62%
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Pomeranian2 boys born+40%
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Greater Poland2 boys born−4%
Edwin as a middle name
Edwin is a first name for 2,291 men in Poland and a middle name for another 1,185, a 66/34 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 216th, between Manuel (1,207) and Denis (1,173).
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#214 Nataniel1,217
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#215 Manuel1,207
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#216 Edwin1,185
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#217 Denis1,173
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#218 Bahadur1,163