Witold
A Slavic name that reads as "leader of the people," softened in daily use to Witek at school and Wituś at home. Around 55,000 Polish men carry it, and it hasn't slipped into heritage territory: parents still give it steadily, all of them to boys.
Witold Pronunciation
Witold is pronounced VEE-tolt (/ˈvitɔlt/).
What Witold means
Where Witold comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Witold comes from Slavic roots and reads as "leader of the people." The name gathers two ideas, ruling and the people ruled, and holds them together. Polish speakers soften it fast. A boy entered as Witold on the class register turns into Witek by the second lesson, and into Wituś at home while he is small.
The name has done real work in Polish life. Witold Gombrowicz signed some of the strangest, sharpest prose of the twentieth century. Witold Lutosławski wrote music that Poland still plays in its concert halls. Further back stands the grand duke known in Polish as Witold, who ruled Lithuania when its borders ran from the Baltic toward the Black Sea.
The sense of "leader of the people" fits that record, and it also sits lightly on a small boy. Witek does his homework. The older meaning waits inside the diminutive, władający ludem in the full Polish form.
When Witold celebrates name day
Witold appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 2 of them as a main name, the first on 12 October.
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 Witold
1 in 389 men in Poland is named Witold. 54,878 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #177 among male names.
Witold's popularity over time
496 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #107 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2002.
Where Witold is most popular
Witold is most popular in Greater Poland, 48% above the national average (587 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Warmian-Masurian (+43%) and Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+23%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Opole, 66% and 51% below average respectively.
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Greater Poland587 boys born+48%
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Warmian-Masurian190 boys born+43%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian249 boys born+23%
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Lubusz108 boys born+18%
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Lower Silesian335 boys born+15%
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Masovian746 boys born+14%
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Pomeranian281 boys born+3%
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Łódź229 boys born−2%
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Podlaskie112 boys born−8%
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Lesser Poland365 boys born−13%
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West Pomeranian129 boys born−17%
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Silesian345 boys born−18%
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Lublin140 boys born−26%
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Świętokrzyskie62 boys born−39%
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Opole42 boys born−51%
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Subcarpathian75 boys born−66%
Witold as a middle name
Witold is a first name for 54,878 men in Poland and a middle name for another 29,178, a 65/35 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 74th, between Maksymilian (31,271) and Bartosz (28,854).
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#72 Krystian32,812
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#73 Maksymilian31,271
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#74 Witold29,178
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#75 Bartosz28,854
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#76 Włodzimierz28,496