Żelisław
Fewer than thirty Polish men carry it, and no boys have been given it in years: a name most Poles will never meet. It is Slavic at root, built from parts meaning "desiring glory".
Żelisław Pronunciation
Żelisław is pronounced zhe-LEES-wahf (/ʐɛˈliswaf/).
What Żelisław means
Where Żelisław comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Żelisław belongs to the old stock of Slavic two-part names. It joins żel-, an element meaning to desire or long for, with -sław, glory. Put together they give the short meaning listed on every naming site: desiring glory, pragnący sławy. That second half, sław, sits inside dozens of Polish names, from Bolesław to Stanisław, which tells you how much fame and renown mattered in early Slavic naming.
The first half is the rarer part. Żel- traces back to a verb of wanting, and it ties Żelisław to a smaller family of names built on longing rather than on strength or peace.
There is a feminine form, Żelisława, for a daughter given the same two roots. Both are uncommon today. A teacher reading a class register might pause at the ż, unsure where the stress falls.
The meaning stays legible after a thousand years. A Żelisław is, by the plain sense of his name, one who desires glory.
How many people are named Żelisław
1 in 821007 men in Poland is named Żelisław. 26 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #8443 among male names.
Żelisław as a middle name
Żelisław is a first name for 26 men in Poland and a middle name for another 40, a 39/61 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 1264th, between Świętosław (40) and Adriano (39).
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#1262 Uchenna40
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#1263 Świętosław40
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#1264 Żelisław40
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#1265 Adriano39
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#1266 Ari39