Mścisław
Just 61 men in Poland carry this name, and no boy has been given it since at least 2000: it sits at the edge of survival. Its Slavic parts, "vengeance" and "glory", make one of the oldest kinds of Polish name, the two-part warrior compound.
Mścisław Pronunciation
Mścisław is pronounced MSHCHEES-wahf (/ˈmɕt͡ɕiswaf/).
What Mścisław means
Where Mścisław comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Mścisław is a Slavic name, and it is a compound. The first part comes from the verb "mścić się", to take vengeance. The second is "sława", glory. Together they give the sense the name still holds: vengeance and glory.
This was a name from a fighting age. In the East Slavic chronicles it appears as Mstislav, and Mstislav I of Kiev, who ruled in the early twelfth century, wore that form. The Polish Mścisław and the Rus Mstislav grow from the same two roots.
It has a feminine partner, Mścisława. Same roots, same pattern. On a school register today a Mścisław would stand alone among the Kacpers and Szymons. The name has grown rare, though the meaning stays legible to any Polish ear.
Its two pieces still show: mścić się and sława.
How many people are named Mścisław
1 in 349938 men in Poland is named Mścisław. 61 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4717 among male names.
Mścisław as a middle name
Mścisław is a first name for 61 men in Poland and a middle name for another 105, a 37/63 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 697th, between Luiz (105) and Jeremy (104).
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#695 Anzelm105
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#696 Luiz105
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#697 Mścisław105
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#698 Jeremy104
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#699 Serwacy104