Tosia
A pet form of Antonina, so at root it means praiseworthy. Rare enough that most Poles have never met one, though a small run of newborn girls keeps it going year to year.
Tosia Pronunciation
Tosia is pronounced TO-shah (/ˈtɔɕa/).
What Tosia means
Where Tosia comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Tosia begins as a nickname. She is the warm, everyday form of Antonina, the name Polish families shorten when Antonina feels too formal for a small child. Alongside her stand Antosia and Tola, two more diminutives of the same root, and the variants Antonina and Antanina keep the fuller shape alive on birth certificates.
The name sits in the Slavic naming family, and its masculine counterpart is Antoni, borne by generations of Polish men. The sense of "praiseworthy" came to Antonina later, an interpretation attached to the name rather than its first meaning. In Polish the word carried alongside it is wspaniała, doskonała: splendid and accomplished.
Read a class register in a Polish school and you may find two or three of them, each Tosia raising a hand. The name day comes with Antonina. That is the day a Tosia receives her wishes. She answers to a diminutive, and behind it stands Antonina, praised as wspaniała.
How many people are named Tosia
1 in 187865 women in Poland is named Tosia. 120 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #3079 among female names.
Tosia's popularity over time
6 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #899 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2012.
Where Tosia is most popular
Tosia is most popular in Warmian-Masurian, 1104% above the national average (6 girls born 2019–2025), followed by West Pomeranian (+241%) and Lower Silesian (+83%).
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Warmian-Masurian6 girls born+1104%
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West Pomeranian2 girls born+241%
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Lower Silesian2 girls born+83%
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Silesian2 girls born+27%
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Masovian3 girls born+22%
Tosia as a middle name
Tosia is a first name for 120 women in Poland and a middle name for another 32, a 79/21 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1250th, between Tanyaradzwa (32) and Alexia (31).
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#1248 Tania32
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#1249 Tanyaradzwa32
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#1250 Tosia32
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#1251 Alexia31
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#1252 Anabella31