Sobiesław
An old Slavic two-part name: *sobie* plus *sław*, a man who keeps *sława*, glory, for himself. Fewer than 250 men in Poland carry it today, so meeting one would stay with you.
Sobiesław Pronunciation
Sobiesław is pronounced sob-YES-wahf (/sɔbˈjɛswaf/).
What Sobiesław means
Where Sobiesław comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Sobiesław belongs to the old stock of Slavic two-part names, joining sobie, to oneself, with sław, glory or fame. The recorded sense reads "to oneself, glory," or in Polish zachowujący sławę dla siebie, a man who keeps renown as his own.
The name sits firmly in Pomeranian history. Sobiesław I, who died in the 1170s, founded the House of Sobiesław, the line later called the Sobiesławice, and organized the lands around Gdańsk into a duchy. He endowed the Cistercian abbey at Oliwa around 1180. His name outlasted his politics.
There is a matching form for a daughter. Sobiesława turns the same two roots toward a girl and keeps the glory intact. On a Polish class register today the name looks archaic, closer to a chronicle than a playground, and that is part of why it lands the way it does: it marks a boy with the old idea of holding on to sława.
How many people are named Sobiesław
1 in 91223 men in Poland is named Sobiesław. 234 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2031 among male names.
Sobiesław's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Sobiesław as a middle name
Sobiesław is a first name for 234 men in Poland and a middle name for another 353, a 40/60 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 376th, between Brian (353) and Serafin (346).
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#374 Ricardo354
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#375 Brian353
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#376 Sobiesław353
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#377 Serafin346
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#378 Pascal343