Pelagia
From the Greek for "of the sea". Rare enough that most Poles have never met one, though it's given a little more often now than it used to be.
Pelagia Pronunciation
Pelagia is pronounced pe-LAHG-yah (/pɛˈlagja/).
What Pelagia means
Where Pelagia comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Pelagia comes from the Greek pelagos, meaning the open sea. The name reads as "of the sea," and in Polish it is given as morska. That is a maritime word for a country with a single northern coast.
The name traveled through the early church. Pelagia of Antioch was a young Christian of the fourth century, later counted among the martyrs, and her feast carried the name into the Polish calendar of saints. So a girl named Pelagia has several dates for her imieniny, October 8 among them.
The name is rare now. It belongs to great-grandmothers more than to classmates, and it keeps the plainness of an older Polish generation. Fashion moves, yet the meaning holds steady: of the sea, morska.
When Pelagia celebrates name day
Pelagia appears 9 times in the Polish name day calendar, 3 of them as a main name, the first on 23 March.
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 Pelagia
1 in 5683 women in Poland is named Pelagia. 3,967 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #534 among female names.
Pelagia's popularity over time
4 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #1128 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2023. Still the #534 name among living women, even as it slips to #1128 among newborns.
Where Pelagia is most popular
Pelagia is most popular in Silesian, 375% above the national average (4 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+267%) and Greater Poland (+151%).
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Silesian4 girls born+375%
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Pomeranian2 girls born+267%
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Greater Poland2 girls born+151%
Pelagia as a middle name
Pelagia is a first name for 3,967 women in Poland and a middle name for another 4,392, a 47/53 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 151st, between Bernadetta (4,487) and Adela (4,339).
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#149 Elwira4,644
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#150 Bernadetta4,487
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#151 Pelagia4,392
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#152 Adela4,339
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#153 Konstancja4,218