Yaroslav
Almost unheard of through the 2000s, it took off in the 2020s: from a handful a year to dozens. A Slavic name, the Ukrainian and Russian form of Jarosław, built on roots meaning fierce and glorious.
Yaroslav Pronunciation
What Yaroslav means
Where Yaroslav comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Yaroslav grows from two old Slavic roots. The first, "yar," means fierce, ardent, hot-blooded. The second, "slav," means glory. Together they give the short meaning the name still carries: fierce and glorious.
The best-known bearer is Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kyiv, who ruled until 1054 and gave the early Rus its first written law code. Through him the name settled into Ukrainian and Russian ground, and it kept its edge. The root stayed sharp.
Polish reshaped Yaroslav into Jarosław, and daily speech clipped that down to Jarek. A boy read out as Jarek on a school register may never once picture war and glory behind it. The feminine Jarosława belongs to the same root, worn by fewer women, sharing the same claim to be fierce and glorious.
How many people are named Yaroslav
1 in 1066 men in Poland is named Yaroslav. 20,040 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #275 among male names.
Yaroslav's popularity over time
58 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #332 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2017. Still the #275 name among living men, even as it slips to #332 among newborns.
Where Yaroslav is most popular
Yaroslav is most popular in Lower Silesian, 180% above the national average (46 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lubusz (+131%) and Masovian (+40%). It is least common in Lublin and Subcarpathian, 81% and 76% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian46 boys born+180%
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Lubusz12 boys born+131%
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Masovian52 boys born+40%
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Greater Poland31 boys born+38%
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West Pomeranian11 boys born+25%
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Łódź15 boys born+13%
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Pomeranian15 boys born−3%
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Świętokrzyskie4 boys born−31%
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Lesser Poland16 boys born−33%
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Silesian13 boys born−45%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian4 boys born−65%
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Warmian-Masurian2 boys born−73%
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Subcarpathian3 boys born−76%
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Lublin2 boys born−81%
Yaroslav as a middle name
Yaroslav is a first name for 20,040 men in Poland and a middle name for another 15, a 100/0 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 2464th, between Winfried (15) and Yousuf (15).
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2462
15Williams
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2463
15Winfried
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246415Yaroslav
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2465
15Yousuf
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2466
15Zachariusz