Alicja
A Germanic name that means "noble by birth". Close to a quarter of a million Polish women carry it, and it still sits inside the top 50, so most Poles know several.
Alicja Pronunciation
Alicja is pronounced ah-LEETS-yah (/aˈlit͡sja/).
What Alicja means
Where Alicja comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Alicja reaches back to the Germanic name Adalheidis, built from adal, "noble," and heid, "kind" or "sort." The Latinized form Adelicia thinned over centuries into the shape Poland uses today. So the short meaning stays plain: noble, of noble kind, szlachetnie urodzona.
The name traveled well. French speakers wore Adelaide down to Alice, and English readers meet the Polish Alicja most often in Alicja w Krainie Czarów, the title Lewis Carroll's book was given here. At home the diminutive Ala answers for it. Variants such as Alicia and Alisiia mark the same root written by other hands.
In a Polish class register, Alicja lands early among the A names. Her imieniny falls most often on 12 June, though 16 December belongs to Saint Adelaide, the empress who died in 999 and lent this name its start. The link is old and checkable: Adalheidis, noble kind, standing behind Ala.
When Alicja celebrates name day
Alicja appears 4 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 21 June.
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 Alicja
1 in 89 women in Poland is named Alicja. 253,950 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #45 among female names.
Alicja's popularity over time
2,788 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #19 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Alicja
Alicja is most popular in Lublin, 29% above the national average (1,770 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+21%) and Holy Cross (+17%). It is least common in Pomeranian and Lubusz, 30% and 25% below average respectively.
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Lublin
+29%1 in 58 babies
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Masovian
+21%1 in 62 babies
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Holy Cross
+17%1 in 64 babies
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Pomeranian
−30%1 in 107 babies
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Lubusz
−25%1 in 100 babies
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Greater Poland
−23%1 in 97 babies
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Lublin+29% 1,770 born1 in 58 babies+29%
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Masovian+21% 5,752 born1 in 62 babies+21%
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Holy Cross+17% 864 born1 in 64 babies+17%
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Silesian+15% 3,492 born1 in 65 babies+15%
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Łódź+13% 1,921 born1 in 66 babies+13%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+8% 1,575 born1 in 69 babies+8%
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Lesser Poland±0% 3,023 born1 in 75 babies±0%
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Warmian-Masurian−2% 940 born1 in 76 babies−2%
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Opole−10% 555 born1 in 83 babies−10%
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Podlaskie−11% 783 born1 in 84 babies−11%
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Lower Silesian−12% 1,845 born1 in 85 babies−12%
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West Pomeranian−14% 968 born1 in 87 babies−14%
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Subcarpathian−17% 1,331 born1 in 91 babies−17%
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Greater Poland−23% 2,210 born1 in 97 babies−23%
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Lubusz−25% 499 born1 in 100 babies−25%
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Pomeranian−30% 1,376 born1 in 107 babies−30%
Alicja as a middle name
Alicja is a first name for 253,950 women in Poland and a middle name for another 86,785, a 75/25 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 31st, between Grażyna (95,579) and Halina (86,369).
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#29 Wiktoria98,949
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#30 Grażyna95,579
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#31 Alicja86,785
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#32 Halina86,369
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#33 Julia86,163