Iwo
A Slavic name meaning "yew tree", the dark evergreen of old Polish churchyards. Fewer than 5,500 men carry it, so meeting an Iwo still sticks in the memory.
Iwo Pronunciation
Iwo is pronounced EE-vo (/ˈivɔ/).
What Iwo means
Where Iwo comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Iwo comes from a Slavic root tied to the yew, the dark evergreen that Poles call cis. Its short meaning stays close to that wood: yew tree, in Polish drzewo cisowe. The nearest relative is Ivo, a variant that swaps the w for a v and crosses borders more easily.
One of the earliest Poles to carry it was Iwo Odrowąż, bishop of Kraków, who died on the 21st of July, 1229. So the name has a documented history reaching back eight centuries.
Read out during a school register, Iwo is short and lands fast. Two syllables, no fuss. It sits easily on any official form.
The yew was prized for bows and slow to grow, a tree that outlives the people who plant it. Names drawn from cis borrow some of that patience. Iwo keeps its variant Ivo close at hand.
When Iwo celebrates name day
Iwo appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 19 May.
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 Iwo
1 in 3955 men in Poland is named Iwo. 5,397 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #472 among male names.
Iwo's popularity over time
109 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #242 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where Iwo is most popular
Iwo is most popular in Greater Poland, 74% above the national average (217 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+29%) and Lower Silesian (+11%). It is least common in Lublin and Subcarpathian, 58% and 40% below average respectively.
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Greater Poland217 boys born+74%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian82 boys born+29%
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Lower Silesian101 boys born+11%
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Łódź78 boys born+6%
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Pomeranian88 boys born+3%
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Masovian206 boys born0%
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West Pomeranian49 boys born0%
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Świętokrzyskie31 boys born−4%
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Lesser Poland118 boys born−10%
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Silesian117 boys born−11%
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Opole21 boys born−21%
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Warmian-Masurian33 boys born−21%
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Lubusz22 boys born−24%
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Podlaskie24 boys born−37%
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Subcarpathian42 boys born−40%
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Lublin25 boys born−58%
Iwo as a middle name
Iwo is a first name for 5,397 men in Poland and a middle name for another 1,769, a 75/25 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 185th, between Erwin (1,769) and Roland (1,716).
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#183 Mieszko1,782
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#184 Erwin1,769
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#185 Iwo1,769
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#186 Roland1,716
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#187 Ariel1,658