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Wladyslaw

From two Slavic roots, *wład* "to rule" and *sław* "glory": a glorious ruler. Barely 200 Poles carry it now, rare enough that most people will never meet one.

Wladyslaw Pronunciation

Wladyslaw is pronounced vlah-DIHS-lahf (/vlaˈdɨslaf/).

Alive in 2025
198
Newborns 2025
3
National rank
#2241

What Wladyslaw means

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

Władysław is built from two old Slavic roots. The first, wład, means to rule; the second, sław, means glory or fame. Put together they give the sense recorded in Polish as sławny władca, a glorious ruler.

Poland handed the name to kings. Władysław I Łokietek reunited the fragmented duchies and was crowned in 1320, and Władysław II Jagiełło founded a dynasty that held the throne for almost two centuries. The name traveled beyond thrones too. Władysław Reymont won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1924 for his novel Chłopi.

The feminine form is Władysława. At home a Władysław usually becomes Władek. That short form does a lot of work.

Read a name-day list at the urząd and you will find Władysław marked in late June. The roots stay legible after all these centuries: a ruler, and glory.

How many people are named Wladyslaw

1 in 107809 men in Poland is named Wladyslaw. 198 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2241 among male names.

People with the name Wladyslaw 2019 → 2025
198 +159 since 2019
2020 40 +1
2021 44 +4
2022 51 +7
2023 207 +156
2024 193 −14
2025 198 +5

Wladyslaw's popularity over time

3 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1394 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2020.

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3 newborns with the name Wladyslaw in 2025
national rank #1394 that year

Where parents choose Wladyslaw

Wladyslaw is most popular in Lublin, 283% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+177%) and Lower Silesian (+150%).

Chosen most
  • Lublin
    +283%
    1 in 51,338 babies
  • Masovian
    +177%
    1 in 70,853 babies
  • Lower Silesian
    +150%
    1 in 78,567 babies

Wladyslaw as a middle name

Wladyslaw is a first name for 198 men in Poland and a middle name for another 117, a 63/37 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 649th, between Willem (117) and Theodor (116).

As a first name
198
As a middle name
117
first name 63% middle name 37%
Middle-name ranking men

Look up another name

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

Next in ranking → Willi #32