Kinga
A Slavic name meaning "brave in war". Around 120,000 women carry it, though it's given less each year now: after a peak in the 2000s, the name is slowly fading.
Kinga Pronunciation
Kinga is pronounced KEEN-gah (/ˈkinga/).
What Kinga means
Where Kinga comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Kinga comes from Slavic ground and grew into the Polish form that stands beside the older Kunegunda. Both names carry the same short meaning, brave in war, or in Polish z walecznego rodu, from a valiant line. Say the name today and most Poles picture a saint before anything else.
That saint is Kinga of Poland, born a Hungarian princess in 1224 and married to Bolesław the Chaste. Legend has her drop a ring into a salt shaft in Hungary, then find it again in the rock salt of Wieliczka. John Paul II canonized her in 1999. Her imieniny falls on 24 July.
On an official form at the urząd, the choice is nearly always Kinga, short and quick to sign. The longer Kunegunda waits in the background for anyone who wants it. That older form keeps the plain sense the whole name grew from, brave in war.
When Kinga celebrates name day
Kinga appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 24 July.
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 Kinga
1 in 186 women in Poland is named Kinga. 121,284 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #114 among female names.
Kinga's popularity over time
374 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #134 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #114 name among living women, even as it slips to #134 among newborns.
Where Kinga is most popular
Kinga is most popular in Opole, 56% above the national average (154 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Subcarpathian (+46%) and Silesian (+45%). It is least common in Lubusz and West Pomeranian, both 40% below average.
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Opole154 girls born+56%
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Subcarpathian377 girls born+46%
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Silesian708 girls born+45%
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Pomeranian396 girls born+26%
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Podlaskie171 girls born+21%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian267 girls born+14%
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Lublin246 girls born+12%
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Warmian-Masurian170 girls born+11%
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Lesser Poland500 girls born+3%
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Świętokrzyskie113 girls born−5%
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Lower Silesian286 girls born−15%
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Łódź229 girls born−16%
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Greater Poland337 girls born−27%
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Masovian500 girls born−34%
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Lubusz64 girls born−40%
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West Pomeranian109 girls born−40%
Kinga as a middle name
Kinga is a first name for 121,284 women in Poland and a middle name for another 59,349, a 67/33 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 46th, between Patrycja (62,344) and Renata (58,366).
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#44 Paulina68,786
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#45 Patrycja62,344
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#46 Kinga59,349
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#47 Renata58,366
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#48 Wanda56,675