Kinga
A Slavic name meaning "brave in war". Around 120,000 women carry it, though it's given less each year now: after a peak in the 2000s, the name is slowly fading.
Kinga Pronunciation
Kinga is pronounced KEEN-gah (/ˈkinga/).
What Kinga means
Where Kinga comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Kinga comes from Slavic ground and grew into the Polish form that stands beside the older Kunegunda. Both names carry the same short meaning, brave in war, or in Polish z walecznego rodu, from a valiant line. Say the name today and most Poles picture a saint before anything else.
That saint is Kinga of Poland, born a Hungarian princess in 1224 and married to Bolesław the Chaste. Legend has her drop a ring into a salt shaft in Hungary, then find it again in the rock salt of Wieliczka. John Paul II canonized her in 1999. Her imieniny falls on 24 July.
On an official form at the urząd, the choice is nearly always Kinga, short and quick to sign. The longer Kunegunda waits in the background for anyone who wants it. That older form keeps the plain sense the whole name grew from, brave in war.
When Kinga celebrates name day
Kinga appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 24 July.
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 Kinga
1 in 186 women in Poland is named Kinga. 121,284 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #114 among female names.
Kinga's popularity over time
374 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #134 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #114 name among living women, even as it slips to #134 among newborns.
Where parents choose Kinga
Kinga is most popular in Opole, 56% above the national average (154 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Subcarpathian (+46%) and Silesian (+45%). It is least common in Lubusz and West Pomeranian, both 40% below average.
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Opole
+56%1 in 299 babies
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Subcarpathian
+46%1 in 320 babies
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Silesian
+45%1 in 321 babies
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Lubusz
−40%1 in 776 babies
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West Pomeranian
−40%1 in 775 babies
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Masovian
−34%1 in 709 babies
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Opole+56% 154 born1 in 299 babies+56%
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Subcarpathian+46% 377 born1 in 320 babies+46%
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Silesian+45% 708 born1 in 321 babies+45%
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Pomeranian+26% 396 born1 in 372 babies+26%
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Podlaskie+21% 171 born1 in 385 babies+21%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+14% 267 born1 in 410 babies+14%
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Lublin+12% 246 born1 in 417 babies+12%
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Warmian-Masurian+11% 170 born1 in 422 babies+11%
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Lesser Poland+3% 500 born1 in 454 babies+3%
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Holy Cross−5% 113 born1 in 491 babies−5%
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Lower Silesian−15% 286 born1 in 549 babies−15%
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Łódź−16% 229 born1 in 553 babies−16%
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Greater Poland−27% 337 born1 in 639 babies−27%
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Masovian−34% 500 born1 in 709 babies−34%
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Lubusz−40% 64 born1 in 776 babies−40%
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West Pomeranian−40% 109 born1 in 775 babies−40%
Kinga as a middle name
Kinga is a first name for 121,284 women in Poland and a middle name for another 59,349, a 67/33 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 46th, between Patrycja (62,344) and Renata (58,366).
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#44 Paulina68,786
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#45 Patrycja62,344
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#46 Kinga59,349
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#47 Renata58,366
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#48 Wanda56,675