Nadia
A short form of the Slavic Nadezhda, which is simply the word for hope. Familiar across Poland but past its peak: it crested in the 2010s, and fewer girls get it each year now.
Nadia Pronunciation
Nadia is pronounced NAHD-yah (/ˈnadja/).
What Nadia means
Where Nadia comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Nadia grew out of Slavic soil, a short form of Nadezhda, which means hope. In Polish that word is nadzieja. The name kept its meaning while shedding its length, so what a child answers to is, quite plainly, hope.
Spelling shifts as the name crosses borders. In German and Scandinavian records you meet Nadja, the same name in a different coat. In Poland the affectionate form is Nadzia, the version a grandmother reaches for. Picture a school register: the full Nadia stands beside the surname, while at home the softer Nadzia does the daily work.
One bearer is easy to check. Nadia Comăneci, the Romanian gymnast, scored the first perfect ten at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Her name shares that same Slavic root and the same short meaning, hope.
When Nadia celebrates name day
Nadia appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 15 May.
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 Nadia
1 in 415 women in Poland is named Nadia. 54,388 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #179 among female names.
Nadia's popularity over time
1,138 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #65 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where Nadia is most popular
Nadia is most popular in Warmian-Masurian, 44% above the national average (617 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Świętokrzyskie (+37%) and Lubusz (+26%). It is least common in Masovian and Lublin, 36% and 24% below average respectively.
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Warmian-Masurian617 girls born+44%
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Świętokrzyskie454 girls born+37%
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Lubusz372 girls born+26%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian801 girls born+23%
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West Pomeranian600 girls born+19%
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Subcarpathian796 girls born+11%
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Greater Poland1,406 girls born+10%
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Lesser Poland1,477 girls born+9%
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Łódź821 girls born+9%
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Pomeranian940 girls born+7%
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Silesian1,417 girls born+5%
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Opole250 girls born−9%
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Lower Silesian795 girls born−15%
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Podlaskie310 girls born−21%
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Lublin464 girls born−24%
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Masovian1,352 girls born−36%
Nadia as a middle name
Nadia is a first name for 54,388 women in Poland and a middle name for another 6,556, an 89/11 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 131st, between Julianna (6,567) and Liliana (6,539).
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#129 Żaneta6,576
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#130 Julianna6,567
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#131 Nadia6,556
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#132 Liliana6,539
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#133 Malwina6,445