Joachim
A Hebrew name meaning "raised by Yahweh". Around 11,000 Polish men carry it and only a few dozen boys get it each year, so meeting a Joachim tends to stick in your memory.
Joachim Pronunciation
Joachim is pronounced yo-AH-kheem (/jɔˈaxim/).
What Joachim means
Where Joachim comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Joachim comes from Hebrew, from Yehoyaqim, a name built around the idea that Yahweh raises up or establishes. The short reading, raised by Yahweh, keeps that verb at the front. It is an old name making a large claim.
In the Polish calendar the imieniny falls on 26 July, shared with Anna, since tradition names Joachim as the father of Mary and Anna as her mother. That is why the two are honoured on one day. A boy entered as Joachim in a Kraków class register carries a name Poland has kept in circulation for centuries without ever letting it grow common.
The name also branches. Joanna stands beside it as a related form, and from Joanna comes the warm diminutive Asia, now so far from the Hebrew root that few speakers hear the link. Wywyższony przez Jahwe is how Polish states the meaning: exalted by God, still built on that first verb of raising.
When Joachim celebrates name day
Joachim appears 9 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 22 September.
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 Joachim
1 in 1951 men in Poland is named Joachim. 10,942 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #354 among male names.
Joachim's popularity over time
58 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #327 among newborns. It has been stable for a decade.
Where Joachim is most popular
Joachim is most popular in Pomeranian, 70% above the national average (51 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Greater Poland (+53%) and Lesser Poland (+47%). It is least common in Świętokrzyskie and Lublin, 82% and 57% below average respectively.
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Pomeranian51 boys born+70%
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Greater Poland67 boys born+53%
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Lesser Poland68 boys born+47%
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Podlaskie16 boys born+19%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian23 boys born+3%
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Subcarpathian25 boys born+2%
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Silesian47 boys born+1%
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Lower Silesian30 boys born−6%
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Masovian60 boys born−17%
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Lubusz8 boys born−21%
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West Pomeranian11 boys born−36%
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Warmian-Masurian9 boys born−39%
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Lublin9 boys born−57%
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Opole4 boys born−57%
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Łódź11 boys born−57%
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Świętokrzyskie2 boys born−82%
Joachim as a middle name
Joachim is a first name for 10,942 men in Poland and a middle name for another 7,841, a 58/42 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 113th, between Marcel (7,842) and Gerard (7,771).
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#111 Benedykt7,878
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#112 Marcel7,842
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#113 Joachim7,841
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#114 Gerard7,771
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#115 Oliwier7,708