Mieszko
Barely 7,000 Polish men carry it, yet the name is climbing back: a few hundred boys get it every year now, always boys. A Slavic name that reads as "sword and glory".
Mieszko Pronunciation
Mieszko is pronounced MYESH-ko (/ˈmjɛʂkɔ/).
What Mieszko means
Where Mieszko comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Mieszko is a Slavic name, and for Poles it belongs first to a ruler. Mieszko I led the Polans in the tenth century and accepted baptism in 966, an event long remembered as the baptism of Poland. The name enters the written record at the start of Polish statehood.
Its modern gloss, "sword and glory," travels through Mieczysław, where miecz means sword and the old element sław means fame. That sense was fastened onto Mieszko later, by association, because the oldest source of the name is still argued over by scholars. The safest thing to say is short. Mieszko marks a Slavic beginning.
Today the name is rare, and it reads as historical rather than old-fashioned. Picture a school register where one Mieszko sits among the Kubas and Anteks, a boy carrying a king's name to no great trouble. On an imieniny card it shortens with ease to Mieszek.
When Mieszko celebrates name day
Mieszko appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 1 January.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
How many people are named Mieszko
1 in 2972 men in Poland is named Mieszko. 7,182 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #421 among male names.
Mieszko's popularity over time
376 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #133 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Mieszko
Mieszko is most popular in West Pomeranian, 54% above the national average (183 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+41%) and Lubusz (+38%). It is least common in Podlaskie and Holy Cross, 45% and 38% below average respectively.
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West Pomeranian
+54%1 in 461 babies
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Lower Silesian
+41%1 in 507 babies
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Lubusz
+38%1 in 517 babies
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Podlaskie
−45%1 in 1,290 babies
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Holy Cross
−38%1 in 1,155 babies
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Lublin
−37%1 in 1,128 babies
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West Pomeranian+54% 183 born1 in 461 babies+54%
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Lower Silesian+41% 310 born1 in 507 babies+41%
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Lubusz+38% 96 born1 in 517 babies+38%
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Greater Poland+34% 406 born1 in 530 babies+34%
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Pomeranian+23% 254 born1 in 580 babies+23%
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Warmian-Masurian+9% 110 born1 in 653 babies+9%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+1% 155 born1 in 706 babies+1%
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Subcarpathian−1% 168 born1 in 718 babies−1%
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Łódź−3% 172 born1 in 737 babies−3%
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Masovian−12% 440 born1 in 805 babies−12%
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Lesser Poland−15% 272 born1 in 834 babies−15%
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Silesian−26% 235 born1 in 968 babies−26%
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Opole−34% 43 born1 in 1,072 babies−34%
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Lublin−37% 91 born1 in 1,128 babies−37%
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Holy Cross−38% 48 born1 in 1,155 babies−38%
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Podlaskie−45% 51 born1 in 1,290 babies−45%
Mieszko as a middle name
Mieszko is a first name for 7,182 men in Poland and a middle name for another 1,782, an 80/20 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 183rd, between August (1,855) and Erwin (1,769).
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#181 Maurycy1,865
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#182 August1,855
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#183 Mieszko1,782
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#184 Erwin1,769
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#185 Iwo1,769