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With themes of strength, stoicism, and religion, Polish baby names are the ideal choice for any parent who sees their child going far in life.
This Slavic country has overcome centuries of suffering and emerged stronger – the perfect analogy for a determined child.
Many Polish names also have religious connotations (think Pope John Paul II), while others give a nod to nature.
A word on Polish name pronunciations: A few letters might sound different in Polish names compared to their English counterparts.
In a nutshell, here are some of the sound-swaps:
- J becomes Y: Jan sounds like y-ahn instead of dg-an.
- W becomes V: Oliwia sounds like oh-liv-ee-ah instead of oh-lee-wee-ah.
Choose from some of the best-known Polish baby names (along with some more unique options) to honor this beautiful country.
In this article: 📝
- What are common Polish names?
- What are some Polish girl names?
- What are some Polish boy names?
- What are unique Polish names?
What are common Polish names?
If you’re looking for instantly recognizable traditional Polish names, you’re in luck.
Statista has compiled a list of the most popular Polish names for boys and girls for 2022, so take your pick:
Boys
- Antoni: A Polish variant of Anthony, meaning “priceless one”.
- Jan: Similar to the English name John, meaning “God is gracious”.
- Aleksander: With Greek origins, meaning “defender of man”.
- Franciszek: The Polish version of Francis, meaning “free man”.
- Nikodem: From the Greek Nicholas, meaning “victory of the people”.
- Jakub: Like Jacob, meaning “supplanter”.
- Leon: For the bravest baby boy, meaning “lion”.
- Stanislaw: Meaning “glory-bringer”.
- Mikolaj: Another name from Greece, meaning “victory of the people”.
- Szymon: Similar to Simon, meaning “listening”.
- Filip: A more phonetically friendly spelling of Philip, this means “friend of horses”.
➡️ Don’t miss our full list of Polish baby boy names
Girls
- Zofia: Like Sofia or Sophia, meaning “wisdom”.
- Zuzanna: Take a more fun approach to the traditional Susan, meaning “lily”.
- Hanna: Just drop the ‘h’ on the classic Hebrew name meaning “gracious”.
- Maja: Switching out the Y for a J, Maja means “splendid”.
- Laura: That’s right, this Latin name is pretty popular in Poland, too! Laura takes inspiration from the laurel plant, representing victory.
- Julia: Another name of Latin origins, Julia means “youth”.
- Oliwia: Always top of the charts in Europe, Oliwia literally means “olive tree”, a symbol of peace.
- Alicja: Similar to Alice or Alicia, Alicja means “noble”.
- Lena: A name that’s found all over the world, Lena means “light”.
➡️ Don’t miss our full list of Polish baby girl names
What are some Polish girl names?
Did you notice what those common Polish girl baby names had in common?
That’s right – in Polish, pretty much all female names end in the letter A!
This follows a popular custom to ‘feminize’ male names, such as with Spanish baby names – think Juan and Juana.
Some of the other more common Polish names for girls have their roots in religion, too.
- Agata: Meaning “good, kind”.
- Agnieszka: Meaning “pure” or “holy”.
- Aleksandra: Meaning “defender of men”.
- Aldona: Meaning “old, wise”.
- Alina: Meaning “beautiful”.
- Amalia: Meaning “industrious, hardworking”.
- Anastazja: Meaning “resurrection”.
- Aneta: Meaning “gracious, merciful”.
- Aniela: Meaning “angelic”.
- Anna: Meaning “gracious, full of grace”.
- Basia: Meaning “stranger, foreigner”.
- Beata: Meaning “blessed, happy”.
- Bogna: Meaning “gift of God”.
- Cecylia: Meaning “blind”.
- Daniela: Meaning “survivor”.
- Danuta: Meaning “God is my judge”.
- Dominika: Meaning “belonging to the Lord”.
- Dorota: This Polish variant of Dorothy means “gift of God”.
- Edyta: Meaning “wealthy, rich”.
- Eliza: Meaning “pledged to God”.
- Emilia: Meaning “rival”.
- Ewa: Meaning “life, living one”.
- Ewelina: Meaning “hazel”.
- Felicia: Meaning “lucky”.
- Franciszka: Meaning “free”.
- Gabriela: Meaning “God is my strength”.
- Halina: Meaning “shining one”.
- Helena: Meaning “bright, shining”.
- Iga: Meaning “thoughtful, considerate”.
- Ilona: Meaning “light”.
- Inga: Meaning “guarded by Ing”.
- Iza: For a shorter and sweeter version of Isabel, Iza means “my God is an oath”.
- Jagoda: Meaning “berry”.
- Janina: Meaning “God is gracious”.
- Joanna: Meaning “God is gracious”.
- Judyta: Rather than a nod to the Christian faith, this variant of Judith means “woman from Judea”.
- Justyna: Meaning “fair, just”.
- Kaja: Meaning “pure, beloved”.
- Kamila: Meaning “perfect”.
- Karina: Meaning “beloved, dear”.
- Katarzyna: Meaning “pure, clear”.
- Kinga: Meaning “brave, capable”.
- Klaudia: Meaning “lame”.
- Klementyna: Meaning “merciful”.
- Kornelia: Meaning “horn”.
- Krystyna: Meaning “follower of Christ”.
- Liliana: Meaning “lily”.
- Lucyna: Meaning “light”.
- Ludwika: Meaning “famous warrior”.
- Magdalena: Meaning “woman from Magdala”.
- Malgorzata: Meaning “pearl”.
- Maria: With its religious connotations, Maria means “of the sea” or “bitter”.
- Marianna: Meaning “bitter grace”.
- Marta: Meaning “lady, mistress”.
- Martyna: Meaning “dedicated to Mars”.
- Michalina: Meaning “who is like God”.
- Milena: Meaning “dear”.
- Natalia: If this one seems familiar (think Boa Natal in Portuguese), it’s because it means just that – “Christmas day”!
- Natasja: Meaning “birth”.
- Olesia: Meaning “protector”.
- Paulina: Meaning “small, humble”.
- Rozalia: Meaning “rose”.
- Weronika: Meaning “true image”.
What are some Polish boy names?
Predictably, as in many other cultures, Polish boy names have themes of masculinity, strength, and war.
You can choose from Polish names such as:
- Adok: Meaning “dark”.
- Albin: Meaning “white”.
- Aleksy: A variant of the Westernized Alex, this means “defender”.
- Andnej: Meaning “
- Apolinary: This longer Polish boy name means “strength”.
- Apoloniusz: Meaning “manly”.
- Armand: Meaning “soldier”.
- Armandek: Meaning “soldier”.
- Aron: Meaning “exalted”.
- Artur or Arturs: Meaning “bear”.
- Augustyn: Meaning “majestic”.
- Aurelius: Meaning “fair-haired”.
- Bazyli: Meaning “king”.
- Bendek: Meaning “blessed”.
- Bialas: Meaning “white-haired man”.
- Bialy: Meaning “white-haired”.
- Boguchwal: Meaning “God’s glory”.
- Bogufal: Meaning “God’s glory”.
- Bogumierz: Meaning “God is great”.
- Bogumil: Meaning “dear to God”.
- Boguslaw: Meaning “God’s glory”.
- Bogusz: Meaning “God’s glory”.
- Bohusz: Meaning “God’s glory”.
- Boleslaw: Meaning “great glory”.
- Borys: Meaning “stranger”.
- Boryslaw: Meaning “battle glory”.
- Bozydar: Meaning “gift from God”.
- Bratumil: Meaning “brotherly love”.
- Brunon: Meaning “brown”.
- Budzislaw: Meaning “awakening glory”.
- Budzisz: Meaning “awakening glory”.
- Budzyk: Meaning “awakening glory”.
- Casimir: Meaning “proclaimer of peace”.
- Castimer: Meaning “proclaimer of peace”.
- Chwalibog: Meaning “praise God”.
- Cibor: Meaning “fights with honor”.
- Cyprian: Meaning “from Cyprus”.
- Cyrek: Meaning “lordly”.
- Dionizy: Meaning “god of wine”.
- Dobieslaw: Meaning “brave glory”.
- Dobromierz: Meaning “good” or “famous”.
- Dobromil: Meaning “lovely goodness”.
- Dobroslaw: Meaning “good glory”.
- Dobry: Meaning “good”.
- Dodek: Meaning “hero”.
- Donat: Meaning “gift”.
- Dorek: Meaning “gift from God”.
- Dyzek: Meaning “earth-lover”.
- Edek: Meaning “house guardian”.
- Egidiusz: Meaning “protective shield”.
- Elek: Meaning “blond”.
- Eljasz: Meaning “Yahweh is my God”.
- Emmilian: Meaning “rival”.
- Erek: Meaning “lovable”.
- Feliks: Meaning “fortunate”.
- Flawiusz: Meaning “blond”.
- Florian: Meaning “blooming”.
- Frandszk: Meaning “free”.
- Fryderyk: Meaning “peaceful ruler”.
- Gerik: Meaning “wealthy spearman”.
- Gerwazy: Meaning “warrior”.
- Gnegon: Meaning “watchful”.
- Gustaw: Meaning “staff of the Goths”.
- Henryk: Meaning “ruler of the home”.
- Hieronim: Meaning “sacred”.
- Holleb: Meaning “dove”.
- Igor: Meaning “warrior”.
- Jacek: Meaning “flower”.
- Janah: Meaning “God is gracious”.
- Janek: Meaning “God is gracious”.
- Januarius: Meaning “born in January”.
- Jarek: Meaning “spring”.
- Jedrek: Meaning “warrior”.
- Jerzy: Meaning “farmer”.
- Josef: Meaning “God will give”.
- Kaspar: Meaning “treasurer”.
- Kazimierz: Meaning “famous destroyer of peace”.
- Kazimir: Meaning “proclaimer of peace”.
- Kazmer: Meaning “proclaimer of peace”.
- Konrad: Meaning “brave counsel”.
- Konstancji: Meaning “constant”.
- Krzysztof: Meaning “Christ-bearer”.
- Laiurenty: Meaning “from Laurentum”.
- Lew: For another short and sweet alternative, Lew means “lion”.
- Liuz: Meaning “light”.
- Lubomir: Meaning “great love”.
- Luboslaw: Meaning “glory-lover”.
- Ludwik: Meaning “renowned warrior”.
- Lujan: Meaning “light”.
- Lukasz: Meaning “light”.
- Maksym: Meaning “greatest”.
- Maksymilian: Meaning “greatest”.
- Mandek: Meaning “warrior”.
- Marcin: Meaning “warlike”.
- Marcinek: Meaning “warlike”.
- Marek: With other variants such as Marian and Mariusz, Marek means “warlike” or “dedicated to Mars”.
- Maurycy: Meaning “moorish”.
- Mauty: Meaning “moorish”.
- Michal: Meaning “who is like God”.
- Mikolai: Meaning “victory of the people”.
What are unique Polish names?
Who says you can’t have both tradition and uniqueness in one name?
Here are a few of our favorite unique and classic Polish names:
- Ania: Meaning “grace”.
- Bartosz: Meaning “son of a farmer”.
- Cezary: Meaning “dedicated to Jupiter”.
- Daria: Meaning “queenly”.
- Emil: Meaning “industrious”.
- Grazyna: Meaning “beautiful”.
- Hubert: Meaning “bright mind”.
- Irena: Meaning “peace”.
- Janusz: Meaning “God is gracious”.
- Kasia: Meaning “pure”.
- Lech: After the legendary founder of Poland
- Marzena: Meaning “of the sea and bitter”.
- Oskar: Meaning “divine spear”.
- Patryk: Meaning “nobleman”.
- Renata: Meaning “reborn”.
- Urszula: Meaning “little bear”.
- Wojciech: There is no English equivalent for this Polish boy’s name, which means “warrior”.
Whether you’re a native or are looking for Polish American baby names (some 2.2 million Poles emigrated to the US), you have a wide choice with varying themes.
For more ideas on the best baby names for your little one, why not ask the mamas of Peanut?