Melaniia
A Ukrainian name carried into Polish, rooted in the Greek word for "black, dark". Almost no one here has met one, but it's surfacing now: a small run of girls has been given it through the 2020s, all of them female.
Melaniia Pronunciation
Melaniia is pronounced me-LAHNY-yah (/mɛˈlaɲja/).
What Melaniia means
Where Melaniia comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Melaniia comes from Greek, from melas, melaina, meaning black or dark. The form most Polish readers know is Melania, and Melaniia is the Ukrainian spelling that keeps the doubled vowel of the Cyrillic original.
The dark in the name is old and literal. Greek melas gave words for ink, for storm clouds, for the deep of night. Yet the association that traveled furthest was a person. Melania the Younger, a Roman heiress of the fifth century, gave away an enormous fortune and became a saint honored in both the Eastern and Western churches. Her name day falls on the last day of December.
In Ukraine the name settled comfortably, and Melaniia is read there without a second thought. On a Polish class register it stands slightly apart from Melania, a single letter marking a border. The meaning underneath stays fixed. Black, dark.
How many people are named Melaniia
1 in 21573 women in Poland is named Melaniia. 1,045 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #941 among female names.
Melaniia's popularity over time
16 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #577 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2021.
Where parents choose Melaniia
Melaniia is most popular in Łódź, 113% above the national average (6 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+78%) and Silesian (+78%). It is least common in Lesser Poland and Pomeranian, 40% and 39% below average respectively.
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Łódź
+113%1 in 21,120 babies
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Masovian
+78%1 in 25,305 babies
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Silesian
+78%1 in 25,287 babies
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Lesser Poland
−40%1 in 75,639 babies
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Pomeranian
−39%1 in 73,661 babies
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Łódź+113% 6 born1 in 21,120 babies+113%
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Masovian+78% 14 born1 in 25,305 babies+78%
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Silesian+78% 9 born1 in 25,287 babies+78%
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Greater Poland+46% 7 born1 in 30,749 babies+46%
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Lower Silesian+43% 5 born1 in 31,427 babies+43%
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West Pomeranian+7% 2 born1 in 42,213 babies+7%
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Pomeranian−39% 2 born1 in 73,661 babies−39%
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Lesser Poland−40% 3 born1 in 75,639 babies−40%
Melaniia as a middle name
Melaniia is a first name for 1,045 women in Poland and a middle name for another 4, a 100/0 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 4256th, between Meital (4) and Melchiora (4).
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#4254 Megi4
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#4255 Meital4
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#4256 Melaniia4
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#4257 Melchiora4
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#4258 Meli̇ke4