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.
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 Mieszko is most popular
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 Świętokrzyskie, 45% and 38% below average respectively.
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West Pomeranian183 boys born+54%
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Lower Silesian310 boys born+41%
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Lubusz96 boys born+38%
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Greater Poland406 boys born+34%
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Pomeranian254 boys born+23%
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Warmian-Masurian110 boys born+9%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian155 boys born+1%
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Subcarpathian168 boys born−1%
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Łódź172 boys born−3%
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Masovian440 boys born−12%
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Lesser Poland272 boys born−15%
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Silesian235 boys born−26%
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Opole43 boys born−34%
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Lublin91 boys born−37%
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Świętokrzyskie48 boys born−38%
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Podlaskie51 boys born−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
1,865Maurycy
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182
1,855August
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1831,782Mieszko
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184
1,769Erwin
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185
1,769Iwo
When Mieszko celebrates name day
Mieszko appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 1 January.