Jaroslaw
Two Slavic roots build it: *jar*, meaning fierce or vigorous, and *sław*, meaning glory. Together they give "fierce glory". The name sits low on the register now, given to only a handful of boys each year, though that count has started to climb again.
Jaroslaw Pronunciation
Jaroslaw is pronounced yah-ROS-lahf (/jaˈrɔslaf/).
What Jaroslaw means
Where Jaroslaw comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Jarosław is built from two old Slavic roots. The first, jar-, means fierce, hot, vigorous. The second, sław, means glory or fame. Set them together and you reach the meaning Polish still records for the name: mocna, gwałtowna sława, fierce glory.
The jar- root rewards a second look. It runs through jary, an old word for vigorous or green with new growth, the same root behind spring sowing. So the fierceness here sits close to sap rising, not only to a raised sword. One bearer fixes the sense in history. Jarosław the Wise ruled Kievan Rus from 1016, expanded Kiev, and began the cathedral of Holy Wisdom in 1037. Fame won by force, exactly as the roots promise.
On a school register the name shortens quickly to Jarek. That is the form a friend actually calls out. The feminine Jarosława uses the same two roots, worn by fewer people. Imieniny fall on 25 April.
Fierce glory, then, and the diminutive nearly everyone reaches for first: Jarek.
When Jaroslaw celebrates name day
Jaroslaw appears 4 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 25 April.
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 Jaroslaw
1 in 127061 men in Poland is named Jaroslaw. 168 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2476 among male names.
Jaroslaw's popularity over time
7 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #808 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2021.
Where Jaroslaw is most popular
Jaroslaw is most popular in West Pomeranian, 412% above the national average (4 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+113%) and Lower Silesian (+106%). It is least common in Silesian, 5% below average.
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West Pomeranian4 boys born+412%
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Masovian7 boys born+113%
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Lower Silesian3 boys born+106%
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Pomeranian2 boys born+47%
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Greater Poland2 boys born0%
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Silesian2 boys born−5%
Jaroslaw as a middle name
Jaroslaw is a first name for 168 men in Poland and a middle name for another 69, a 71/29 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 872nd, between Howard (69) and Konstantin (69).
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#870 Frederic69
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#871 Howard69
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#872 Jaroslaw69
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#873 Konstantin69
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#874 Reginald69