Volodymyr
The eastern Slavic spelling of Włodzimierz, kept in Ukrainian and given only to boys. Around 65,000 men in Poland carry it, enough that it rings familiar, though few newborns get it now.
Volodymyr Pronunciation
What Volodymyr means
Where Volodymyr comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Volodymyr is a Slavic name built from two old parts. The first meant to rule. The second was heard by early Slavic speakers as "great," and only later did it drift toward "mir," the word for peace. The tidy gloss "ruler of peace" came with that shift, fitted onto the name after the fact.
In Polish the same name turns into Włodzimierz, shortened by friends to Włodek.
Its most documented bearer is Volodymyr the Great, prince of Kyiv, who accepted Christianity around 988 and turned Rus toward Byzantium. The east Slavic spelling with an o has held firm in Ukraine ever since. Picture a Polish class register: a Volodymyr might sit a few rows from a Włodek, one Slavic root wearing two spellings.
How many people are named Volodymyr
1 in 328 men in Poland is named Volodymyr. 65,124 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #157 among male names.
Volodymyr's popularity over time
23 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #491 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2012. Still the #157 name among living men, even as it slips to #491 among newborns.
Where Volodymyr is most popular
Volodymyr is most popular in West Pomeranian, 209% above the national average (11 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Greater Poland (+88%) and Masovian (+54%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Silesian, 61% and 37% below average respectively.
-
West Pomeranian11 boys born+209%
-
Greater Poland17 boys born+88%
-
Masovian23 boys born+54%
-
Pomeranian8 boys born+29%
-
Łódź6 boys born+12%
-
Lower Silesian6 boys born−9%
-
Świętokrzyskie2 boys born−14%
-
Lesser Poland7 boys born−27%
-
Kuyavian-Pomeranian3 boys born−35%
-
Silesian6 boys born−37%
-
Subcarpathian2 boys born−61%
Volodymyr as a middle name
Volodymyr is a first name for 65,124 men in Poland and a middle name for another 52, a 100/0 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 1049th, between Tomisław (52) and Zdzislaw (52).
-
1047
52Stéphane
-
1048
52Tomisław
-
104952Volodymyr
-
1050
52Zdzislaw
-
1051
51Björn