Włodzimierz
Around 44,000 Polish men carry it, but new parents rarely reach for it now: eight boys last year, and the count keeps sliding. The roots are Slavic, włod "to rule" and mir "peace", which Polish reads as władca pokoju, ruler of peace.
Włodzimierz Pronunciation
Włodzimierz is pronounced vwo-JEEM-yesh (/vwɔˈd͡ʑimjɛʂ/).
What Włodzimierz means
Where Włodzimierz comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Włodzimierz comes from old Slavic roots. The first part, włod, means to rule; the second, mir, carries two senses in Slavic tongues, peace and world. From that pairing Polish reads the name as władca pokoju, ruler of peace, the reading this site follows. The same two roots gave Russian its Vladimir, so the Polish and Russian forms are close cousins rather than borrowings.
Poland has worn the name in plain daylight. Włodzimierz Smolarek, the footballer, played at the 1982 World Cup. Włodzimierz Puchalski spent his life photographing birds and marshland. On a class register the name sits full and formal, four syllables long, and friends usually shorten it to Włodek.
There is a feminine variant, Włodzimiera, less common now. The name has its imieniny in July. Whatever the second root once meant on the steppe, in Polish it settles as władca pokoju.
How many people are named Włodzimierz
1 in 478 men in Poland is named Włodzimierz. 44,615 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #204 among male names.
Włodzimierz's popularity over time
8 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #780 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2012. Still the #204 name among living men, even as it slips to #780 among newborns.
Where Włodzimierz is most popular
Włodzimierz is most popular in Greater Poland, 159% above the national average (16 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+97%) and Lublin (+36%). It is least common in Lesser Poland and Lower Silesian, 69% and 56% below average respectively.
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Greater Poland16 boys born+159%
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Masovian20 boys born+97%
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Lublin4 boys born+36%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian4 boys born+27%
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Świętokrzyskie2 boys born+26%
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Podlaskie2 boys born+6%
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Silesian6 boys born−8%
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Subcarpathian2 boys born−42%
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Łódź2 boys born−45%
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Lower Silesian2 boys born−56%
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Lesser Poland2 boys born−69%
Włodzimierz as a middle name
Włodzimierz is a first name for 44,615 men in Poland and a middle name for another 28,496, a 61/39 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 76th, between Bartosz (28,854) and Szczepan (27,759).
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74
29,178Witold
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75
28,854Bartosz
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7628,496Włodzimierz
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77
27,759Szczepan
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78
27,731Ireneusz