Ewa
The meaning is plain: life, the living one. Nearly half a million Polish women carry it, and it still sits near the top of the list today, so most people know several.
Ewa Pronunciation
Ewa is pronounced E-vah (/ˈɛva/).
What Ewa means
Where Ewa comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Ewa means life, the living one. The origin given here is Slavic, and that meaning has held steady while the spelling travels. Cross a border and the name relaxes into Eva, a variant that swaps the Polish w for a v. From the same root comes Ewelina, a diminutive that long ago grew into a full name people register on its own.
In a Polish class register, Ewa tends to land near the top, four letters written without a pause. The name day falls on 24 December, shared with Adam, so the imieniny arrives on Christmas Eve.
Bearers have taken it everywhere. Ewa Demarczyk, the singer once called the black angel of Polish song, gave the name a stage. The meaning underneath stays plain: life.
When Ewa celebrates name day
Ewa appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 24 December.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
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 Ewa
1 in 48 women in Poland is named Ewa. 472,970 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #13 among female names.
Ewa's popularity over time
356 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #138 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #13 name among living women, even as it slips to #138 among newborns.
Where Ewa is most popular
Ewa is most popular in Lower Silesian, 31% above the national average (312 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+20%) and Lesser Poland (+5%). It is least common in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian, 29% and 23% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian312 girls born+31%
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Masovian642 girls born+20%
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Lesser Poland359 girls born+5%
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Opole73 girls born+5%
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West Pomeranian132 girls born+4%
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Pomeranian229 girls born+3%
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Podlaskie100 girls born+1%
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Lubusz75 girls born0%
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Lublin153 girls born−1%
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Silesian310 girls born−10%
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Subcarpathian160 girls born−12%
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Greater Poland284 girls born−13%
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Świętokrzyskie73 girls born−13%
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Łódź160 girls born−16%
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Warmian-Masurian83 girls born−23%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian118 girls born−29%
Ewa as a middle name
Ewa is a first name for 472,970 women in Poland and a middle name for another 372,483, a 56/44 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 5th, between Barbara (403,010) and Teresa (354,803).