Leopold
After years near zero it's climbing back: more boys got it last year than in seasons past, though it stays rare enough that most Poles have never met one. The name is Germanic, built from roots meaning "brave people".
Leopold Pronunciation
Leopold is pronounced le-O-polt (/lɛˈɔpɔlt/).
What Leopold means
Where Leopold comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Leopold grew from two Germanic words: liut, the people, and bald, bold or brave. Together they give brave people, the short meaning that follows the name still. Older forms like Liutbald and Leudbald show the shape it kept before Latin softened it.
Then a lion slipped in. Speakers heard leo at the front, the Latin word, and the spelling settled as Leo-pold. The lion arrived late. It was never the origin, though the image held on and gave the name a second face.
Saint Leopold III governed Austria in the twelfth century and became the country's patron. His feast, and so the Polish imieniny, falls on 15 November. Read a class register on that day and a Leopold might glance up, answering to a name that once meant a garrison's courage. The plain sense holds without the lion: brave among the people, odważny wśród ludu.
When Leopold celebrates name day
Leopold appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 15 November.
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 Leopold
1 in 7524 men in Poland is named Leopold. 2,837 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #606 among male names.
Leopold's popularity over time
52 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #345 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2005.
Where parents choose Leopold
Leopold is most popular in Masovian, 110% above the national average (108 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+49%) and Pomeranian (+27%). It is least common in Lublin and Warmian-Masurian, 87% and 81% below average respectively.
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Masovian
+110%1 in 3,280 babies
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Lower Silesian
+49%1 in 4,622 babies
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Pomeranian
+27%1 in 5,456 babies
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Lublin
−87%1 in 51,338 babies
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Warmian-Masurian
−81%1 in 35,897 babies
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Holy Cross
−75%1 in 27,717 babies
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Masovian+110% 108 born1 in 3,280 babies+110%
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Lower Silesian+49% 34 born1 in 4,622 babies+49%
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Pomeranian+27% 27 born1 in 5,456 babies+27%
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Lesser Poland+6% 35 born1 in 6,483 babies+6%
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West Pomeranian+6% 13 born1 in 6,494 babies+6%
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Greater Poland+3% 32 born1 in 6,726 babies+3%
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Łódź−7% 17 born1 in 7,454 babies−7%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−31% 11 born1 in 9,944 babies−31%
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Lubusz−44% 4 born1 in 12,414 babies−44%
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Subcarpathian−54% 8 born1 in 15,071 babies−54%
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Podlaskie−58% 4 born1 in 16,447 babies−58%
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Silesian−58% 14 born1 in 16,256 babies−58%
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Holy Cross−75% 2 born1 in 27,717 babies−75%
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Warmian-Masurian−81% 2 born1 in 35,897 babies−81%
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Lublin−87% 2 born1 in 51,338 babies−87%
Leopold as a middle name
Leopold is a first name for 2,837 men in Poland and a middle name for another 3,219, a 47/53 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 147th, between Brunon (3,239) and Gracjan (3,179).
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#145 Klaudiusz3,489
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#146 Brunon3,239
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#147 Leopold3,219
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#148 Gracjan3,179
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#149 Roch3,178