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Wacław

A Slavic name built from roots meaning "more glory". Around 20,000 men carry it, but it's fading fast: no newborns took it last year, and meeting one now is memorable rather than routine.

Wacław Pronunciation

Wacław is pronounced VAHTS-wahf (/ˈvat͡swaf/).

Related names
Wacek Wacława
Alive in 2025
20,675
Newborns 2025
<2
National rank
#270
Next name day
4 April
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What Wacław means

Where Wacław comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.

The name Wacław grew from Slavic soil. Its older shape was Więcesław, built from więce, an old word for "more," and sław, "glory." Put together, they add up to more glory, więcej sławy. The meaning sits right in the parts.

History gave the name a famous bearer. Wacław, known in the West as Wenceslaus, was the tenth-century duke of Bohemia, later honored as a saint and a patron. His feast falls on September 28, and Polish calendars still mark that day for every Wacław. The English carol about "Good King Wenceslas" draws on the same duke.

In daily use the name loosens up. A small boy answers to Wacek. A girl who carries the feminine form is Wacława. On the imieniny, a teacher reading down the class register might land on Wacław and pause at a name less common now than it once was.

Whatever the form, Wacek or Wacława, the root keeps its old sum: more glory.

When Wacław celebrates name day

Wacław appears 4 times in the Polish name day calendar, 2 of them as a main name, the first on 4 April.

Next name day
4 April
Sunday in 2027
Next one in 161 days
Name days

The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.

Also celebrates

Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.

How many people are named Wacław

1 in 1032 men in Poland is named Wacław. 20,675 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #270 among male names.

People with the name Wacław 2019 → 2025
20,675 −6,515 since 2019
2020 26,625 −565
2021 25,245 −1,380
2022 23,826 −1,419
2023 22,662 −1,164
2024 21,632 −1,030
2025 20,675 −957

Wacław's popularity over time

Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been falling steadily since 2000.

hover a bar to explore
<2 newborns with the name Wacław in 2025
below the publication floor that year

Where parents choose Wacław

Wacław is most popular in Masovian, 510% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025).

Chosen most
  • Masovian
    +510%
    1 in 177,133 babies

Wacław as a middle name

Wacław is a first name for 20,675 men in Poland and a middle name for another 24,968, a 45/55 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 81st, between Leon (25,610) and Bolesław (24,574).

As a first name
20,675
As a middle name
24,968
first name 45% middle name 55%
Middle-name ranking men

Look up another name

Search the register, or step through the ranking one place at a time.

Next in ranking → Violetta #271