Erwin
From Germanic roots, it means "army friend". Fewer than 4,500 men in Poland carry it and it's slipping further out of use each year, so most people here will never meet one.
Erwin Pronunciation
Erwin is pronounced ER-veen (/ˈɛrvin/).
What Erwin means
Where Erwin comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Erwin grew out of Germanic roots, where an older word for army stood beside wini, meaning friend. Put together, they gave a name that Polish speakers render as przyjaciel wojowników, the friend of warriors. The English gloss, army friend, keeps the same two halves side by side.
The name traveled with German usage and settled comfortably in Poland's records. It carries a feminine variant, Erwina, for a daughter given the same root. One real bearer stands out: Erwin Schrödinger, the Austrian physicist whose cat became a byword for paradox.
Say it in a Polish class register and it reads short and firm. Two syllables, no fuss. The name sits among older Germanic imports that never fully left Poland. The meaning underneath, that old pairing of army and friend, has nothing soft about it. It names a person others would want beside them, przyjaciel wojowników.
When Erwin celebrates name day
Erwin appears 4 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 19 January.
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 Erwin
1 in 4880 men in Poland is named Erwin. 4,374 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #519 among male names.
Erwin's popularity over time
10 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #692 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #519 name among living men, even as it slips to #692 among newborns.
Where Erwin is most popular
Erwin is most popular in Lubusz, 790% above the national average (9 boys born 2019–2025), followed by West Pomeranian (+191%) and Masovian (+52%). It is least common in Greater Poland and Subcarpathian, 54% and 19% below average respectively.
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Lubusz9 boys born+790%
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West Pomeranian5 boys born+191%
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Masovian11 boys born+52%
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Lublin3 boys born+44%
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Łódź3 boys born+16%
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Lower Silesian3 boys born−6%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian2 boys born−10%
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Silesian4 boys born−14%
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Subcarpathian2 boys born−19%
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Greater Poland2 boys born−54%
Erwin as a middle name
Erwin is a first name for 4,374 men in Poland and a middle name for another 1,769, a 71/29 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 184th, between Mieszko (1,782) and Iwo (1,769).
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#182 August1,855
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#183 Mieszko1,782
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#184 Erwin1,769
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#185 Iwo1,769
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#186 Roland1,716