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Pola

Slavic at root, sitting close to *pole*, a field, though as a short form of Apolonia it also carries the sense "belonging to Apollo". Given only to girls, it ranks around 190th today and has been easing off since a peak earlier this decade.

Pola Pronunciation

Pola is pronounced PO-lah (/ˈpɔla/).

Related names
Polyna Apolonia
Alive in 2025
50,532
Newborns 2025
2,812
National rank
#187
Next name day
9 February
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What Pola means

Where Pola comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.

Pola grew from Slavic ground. As a short form it took on the meaning "belonging to Apollo," a sense that reached it through Apolonia, the longer name Pola often stands in for. The Slavic root itself is homelier, sitting close to the word pole, a field.

The best known bearer carried the name far. Pola Negri, born Apolonia Chałupiec in 1897 near Lipno, became one of the great faces of silent film in Berlin and Hollywood. She kept the small Polish name and let the long one go. Because of her, four plain letters read as glamour for a whole generation.

Today Pola stands beside its cousins Paulina and Pauline, with the tender Paulinka for a small girl. On a school register it is brief. A teacher reads it in one breath and moves to the next child. Four letters, and behind them the older Apolonia.

When Pola celebrates name day

Pola appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 9 February.

Next name day
9 February
Tuesday in 2027
Next one in 107 days
Name days

The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.

Also celebrates

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 Pola

1 in 446 women in Poland is named Pola. 50,532 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #187 among female names.

People with the name Pola 2019 → 2025
50,532 +22,293 since 2019
2020 30,303 +2,064
2021 34,589 +4,286
2022 39,149 +4,560
2023 43,465 +4,316
2024 47,274 +3,809
2025 50,532 +3,258

Pola's popularity over time

2,812 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #18 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.

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2,812 newborns with the name Pola in 2025
national rank #18 that year

Where parents choose Pola

Pola is most popular in West Pomeranian, 33% above the national average (1,348 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Warmian-Masurian (+27%) and Lubusz (+25%). It is least common in Lesser Poland and Podlaskie, 28% and 16% below average respectively.

Chosen most
  • West Pomeranian
    +33%
    1 in 63 babies
  • Warmian-Masurian
    +27%
    1 in 66 babies
  • Lubusz
    +25%
    1 in 67 babies
Chosen least
  • Lesser Poland
    −28%
    1 in 115 babies
  • Podlaskie
    −16%
    1 in 99 babies
  • Subcarpathian
    −9%
    1 in 91 babies

Pola as a middle name

Pola is a first name for 50,532 women in Poland and a middle name for another 4,009, a 93/7 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 157th, between Blanka (4,054) and Judyta (3,872).

As a first name
50,532
As a middle name
4,009
first name 93% middle name 7%
Middle-name ranking women

Look up another name

Search the register, or step through the ranking one place at a time.

Next in ranking → Paula #4