Vasily
A Greek name meaning "royal, kingly", carried in Russian tradition. In Poland it's down to about 70 men and no newborns in years, so most Poles have never met one.
Vasily Pronunciation
What Vasily means
Where Vasily comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Vasily comes from the Greek Basileios, built on basileus, the word for king. That root gives the name its plain meaning: royal, kingly. Greek carried it first, and it settled deep in Russian soil, where Vasily became one of the ordinary names of the country.
The kingly sense runs old and literal. Basil the Great, the fourth-century bishop of Caesarea, wore the Greek form, and his fame pushed the name east and north. In Russian hands it lost none of its weight. Vasily was borne by grand princes of Moscow, several of them, so a name meaning royal sat on men who actually ruled.
On a Polish class register the form looks foreign next to Bazyli, the local cousin of the same Greek root. Yet the two are one name in different coats. Bazyli and Vasily both trace back to basileus, and both mean the same thing.
A child called Vasily carries a Greek word for king, kept alive in Russian. The meaning has not drifted. Royal it was, royal it stays.
How many people are named Vasily
1 in 309365 men in Poland is named Vasily. 69 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4377 among male names.