Wodzisław
One of Poland's rarest men's names: just 28 people carry it, and no newborns have taken it this century. A Slavic name at root, built from the words for leader and glory: "glorious leader".
Wodzisław Pronunciation
Wodzisław is pronounced vo-JEES-wahf (/vɔˈd͡ʑiswaf/).
What Wodzisław means
Where Wodzisław comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Wodzisław belongs to the old Slavic family of two-part names, built from wódz, a leader, and sław, glory or fame. Put together, the halves give the sense the name still holds: a glorious leader. Both were common building blocks, so a Slavic ear read the meaning without effort.
Names ending in -sław were everywhere among the Slavs, from Bolesław to Mirosław to Stanisław. That second root promised renown and a good name. Wodzisław added command to it, the man who leads the war-band.
The name also sits on a map. Wodzisław Śląski, a town in Silesia, and a smaller Wodzisław in the Świętokrzyskie region both take their names from a person, a founder or lord once called Wodzisław.
For a daughter, Polish offers Wodzisława, the feminine form on the same two roots. Today the name is rare. Meet a Wodzisław on a school register and the teacher likely slows down. The roots stay readable: wódz still means leader in ordinary Polish.
How many people are named Wodzisław
1 in 762364 men in Poland is named Wodzisław. 28 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #7964 among male names.
Wodzisław as a middle name
Wodzisław is a first name for 28 men in Poland and a middle name for another 49, a 36/64 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 1089th, between Tinashe (49) and Agus (48).
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#1087 Tapio49
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#1088 Tinashe49
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#1089 Wodzisław49
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#1090 Agus48
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#1091 Aidan48