Lew
Lew is simply the Polish word for lion, a Slavic name that says outright what it means. Fewer than 600 Poles carry it and every one of them is a man, so meeting one stays memorable.
Lew Pronunciation
Lew is pronounced LEF (/lɛf/).
What Lew means
Where Lew comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Lew is the Polish word for a lion, and it is also a first name. The word travelled far before it did either job. It reached Slavic speech through Latin leo and Greek leon, then settled into Polish as lew, the animal you meet at the zoo or on an old coat of arms.
The name mattered in medieval Ruthenia. Prince Lew Daniłowicz ruled Galicia in the thirteenth century, and the city of Lwów, today Lviv, took its name from him. The East Slavic variant Lev grows from the same root.
Today the name looks short on a school register. Four letters, sitting between longer classmates. A Polish child needs no gloss for what it means, because lew is simply the lion, and the lion is the name.
How many people are named Lew
1 in 42607 men in Poland is named Lew. 501 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1316 among male names.
Lew's popularity over time
30 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #440 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2009.
Where Lew is most popular
Lew is most popular in Masovian, 116% above the national average (89 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+103%) and Pomeranian (+69%). It is least common in Łódź and Opole, 80% and 63% below average respectively.
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Masovian89 boys born+116%
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Lower Silesian37 boys born+103%
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Pomeranian29 boys born+69%
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West Pomeranian11 boys born+12%
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Greater Poland22 boys born−12%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian10 boys born−21%
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Silesian19 boys born−28%
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Lublin8 boys born−33%
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Lesser Poland15 boys born−43%
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Lubusz3 boys born−48%
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Świętokrzyskie3 boys born−53%
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Opole2 boys born−63%
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Łódź3 boys born−80%
Lew as a middle name
Lew is a first name for 501 men in Poland and a middle name for another 591, a 46/54 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 293rd, between Herman (591) and Hipolit (589).