Anatolij
From Greek, Anatolij carries the sense "sunrise." Fewer than 150 men in Poland go by it, rare enough that most Poles have never met one.
Anatolij Pronunciation
Anatolij is pronounced ah-nah-TO-leey (/anaˈtɔlij/).
What Anatolij means
Where Anatolij comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Anatolij begins in Greek. The source is anatolē, the word for sunrise, and the same word named Anatolia, the land in the east where the sun comes up. A third-century figure, Saint Anatolius of Laodicea, carried it into Christian use, and from Greek it traveled north into Russian and Ukrainian, where Anatolij became ordinary and well loved.
The short meaning stays close to that root: sunrise, or in Polish wschód słońca. Bearers wore it plainly. The chess champion Anatoly Karpov made the name known far past Slavic borders.
In Poland the name softens in daily speech. Anatol is the standard variant, and the diminutives Tolek and Tola turn the full entry in a school register into a name a friend would use. On an imieniny card the long form gives way to the short one.
Say Anatolij and you name the sunrise, then hand it to a boy called Tolek.
How many people are named Anatolij
1 in 143263 men in Poland is named Anatolij. 149 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2654 among male names.
Anatolij's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Where parents choose Anatolij
Anatolij is most popular in Greater Poland, 904% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025).
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Greater Poland
+904%1 in 107,622 babies
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Greater Poland+904% 2 born1 in 107,622 babies+904%
Anatolij as a middle name
Anatolij is a first name for 149 men in Poland and a middle name for another 11, a 93/7 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 2888th, between Anatoli (11) and Andras (11).
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#2886 Amor11
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#2887 Anatoli11
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#2888 Anatolij11
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#2889 Andras11
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#2890 Andrij11