Edward
After lean years it's climbing back, given to more boys last year than at any point this century. A Germanic name at root, "rich guard": a keeper of good fortune.
Edward Pronunciation
Edward is pronounced ED-vahrt (/ˈɛdvart/).
What Edward means
Where Edward comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Edward comes from two old Germanic words. The first, "ead", means riches or prosperity. The second, "weard", means a guard or keeper. Joined together they were recorded with the sense "rich guard", the one set to watch over good fortune. The variant Eduard keeps the same two roots without altering them.
England gave the name much of its early standing. Edward the Confessor, king in the eleventh century, was canonized after his death. The name faded after the Norman conquest, then came back when Henry III named his heir Edward after the saint. Royal Edwards followed for centuries.
In Poland the name day of Edward falls on 13 October, the feast of that same confessor king. Open a school register in Kraków and an Edward is easy to find. The Polish gloss stays close to the old one: strażnik pomyślności, a guard of prosperity.
How many people are named Edward
1 in 281 men in Poland is named Edward. 76,002 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #146 among male names.
Edward's popularity over time
168 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #202 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2002. Still the #146 name among living men, even as it slips to #202 among newborns.
Where Edward is most popular
Edward is most popular in Masovian, 42% above the national average (207 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Greater Poland (+27%) and Pomeranian (+17%). It is least common in Świętokrzyskie and Subcarpathian, 69% and 45% below average respectively.
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Masovian207 boys born+42%
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Greater Poland112 boys born+27%
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Pomeranian71 boys born+17%
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Podlaskie30 boys born+11%
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Lesser Poland97 boys born+4%
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West Pomeranian36 boys born+4%
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Lower Silesian64 boys born−1%
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Łódź48 boys born−8%
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Warmian-Masurian25 boys born−15%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian35 boys born−22%
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Lublin33 boys born−22%
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Silesian70 boys born−25%
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Lubusz13 boys born−36%
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Opole12 boys born−37%
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Subcarpathian27 boys born−45%
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Świętokrzyskie7 boys born−69%
Edward as a middle name
Edward is a first name for 76,002 men in Poland and a middle name for another 68,561, a 53/47 split — almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 42nd, between Artur (70,058) and Mirosław (68,158).
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40
70,203Kamil
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41
70,058Artur
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4268,561Edward
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43
68,158Mirosław
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44
65,167Dawid
When Edward celebrates name day
Edward appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 18 March.