Daniel
A Hebrew name meaning "god is my judge". It still sits inside Poland's top hundred for boys, and with around 171,000 men carrying it, you almost certainly know one.
Daniel Pronunciation
Daniel is pronounced DAH-nyel (/ˈdaɲɛl/).
What Daniel means
Where Daniel comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Daniel comes from the Hebrew Daniyyel, and it means "God is my judge." The judgment is not a threat here. It sets the person under a higher court than any human one, and that idea gave the name to the prophet of the Book of Daniel, the man kept overnight among lions.
Poland took the name early through the Church calendar. A boy named Daniel will find his imieniny more than once a year, and on a school register the name sits without needing translation. Its shape holds steady across borders.
The feminine forms come later. Daniela and Daniella turn the same Hebrew root toward a daughter, keeping the meaning and changing the ending. A family can carry both, a Daniel and a Daniela, under one roof.
What stays through all of this is the plain sense of the Hebrew: God is my judge.
When Daniel celebrates name day
Daniel appears 12 times in the Polish name day calendar, 5 of them as a main name, the first on 3 January.
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 Daniel
1 in 125 men in Poland is named Daniel. 171,090 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #85 among male names.
Daniel's popularity over time
554 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #102 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #85 name among living men, even as it slips to #102 among newborns.
Where parents choose Daniel
Daniel is most popular in Opole, 47% above the national average (135 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+42%) and Lubusz (+25%). It is least common in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian, 36% and 32% below average respectively.
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Opole
+47%1 in 341 babies
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Lower Silesian
+42%1 in 352 babies
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Lubusz
+25%1 in 400 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−36%1 in 787 babies
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Warmian-Masurian
−32%1 in 733 babies
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Lublin
−31%1 in 723 babies
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Opole+47% 135 born1 in 341 babies+47%
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Lower Silesian+42% 447 born1 in 352 babies+42%
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Lubusz+25% 124 born1 in 400 babies+25%
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Silesian+16% 527 born1 in 432 babies+16%
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Masovian+15% 813 born1 in 436 babies+15%
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West Pomeranian+10% 185 born1 in 456 babies+10%
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Łódź−2% 249 born1 in 509 babies−2%
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Lesser Poland−3% 439 born1 in 517 babies−3%
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Pomeranian−6% 277 born1 in 532 babies−6%
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Holy Cross−10% 100 born1 in 554 babies−10%
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Podlaskie−17% 109 born1 in 604 babies−17%
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Greater Poland−17% 358 born1 in 601 babies−17%
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Subcarpathian−26% 178 born1 in 677 babies−26%
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Lublin−31% 142 born1 in 723 babies−31%
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Warmian-Masurian−32% 98 born1 in 733 babies−32%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−36% 139 born1 in 787 babies−36%
Daniel as a middle name
Daniel is a first name for 171,090 men in Poland and a middle name for another 62,511, a 73/27 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 45th, between Dawid (65,167) and Szymon (62,434).
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#43 Mirosław68,158
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#44 Dawid65,167
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#45 Daniel62,511
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#46 Szymon62,434
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#47 Mieczysław62,417