Slavic boy names can be better understood when organized into two groups, based on their linguistic origin. The first group consists of Slavic names derived from languages like Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or Old Norse —languages from outside the Slavic language family.
Slavic names such as Sergei, Dmitry, Igor, and Oleg are in this first group. Sergei comes from the Latin name Sergius, Dmitry comes from the Greek name Demeter, and the names Igor and Oleg originate from Old Norse.
In the second group are names formed from Slavic root words. Examples include Stanislav, Bogdan, and Miroslav. Most names in this second group are dithematic: they are formed by combining two components.
Let’s begin our exploration of Slavic Boy Names by looking at some examples. In the table below, we have listed some famous artists, novelists, musicians, and scientists who have Slavic male names.
Perhaps you have read novels, watched movies, listened to symphonies, or admired paintings created by some of these individuals.
| Name | Occupation |
|---|---|
| Dmitri Mendeleev | Russian chemist who designed the periodic table of elements |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Russian composer and pianist |
| Antonín Dvořák | Czech composer who wrote the New World Symphony |
| Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | Russian writer and historian |
| Vladimir Nabokov | Russian-American novelist |
| Igor Stravinsky | Russian composer |
| Krzysztof Kieślowski | Polish film director who made the Three Colors trilogy |
| Dmitri Shostakovich | Russian composer |
| Sergei Prokofiev | Russian composer |
| Sergey Brin | computer scientist and co-founder of Google |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Russian composer who wrote Swan Lake and The Nutcracker |
| Fyodor Dostoevsky | Russian novelist who wrote Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov |
| Yuri Gagarin | Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who was the first human to go into space |
| Anton Chekhov | Russian author |
| Mikhail Bulgakov | Russian author who wrote the novel The Master and Margarita |
| Boris Pasternak | Russian author who wrote Doctor Zhivago |
| Ivan Bunin | Russian author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| Czesław Miłosz | Polish-American author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| Miloš Forman | Czech-American film director who made the movies One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus |
| Milan Kundera | Czech and French novelist who wrote The Unbearable Lightness of Being |
| Nikola Tesla | Serbian-American inventor |
| Andrzej Wajda | Polish film director who won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival |
| Ivan Pavlov | Russian physiologist |
| Miroslav Holub | Czech poet and immunologist |
| Andrey Kolmogorov | Soviet mathematician who did a lot of work in probability theory |
| Ilya Repin | painter |
| Wassily Kandinsky | Russian painter |
| Ivan Meštrović | Croatian sculptor and architect |
| Stanisław Lem | Polish writer |
| Stanislav Zhukovsky | painter |
An interesting thing about Slavic boy names is that they often have several different spellings. That’s because there are many Slavic languages, each with its own spelling rules.
Take Polish and Czech, for instance. Both are Slavic languages. In addition, Poland and the Czech Republic are neighboring countries. And yet, many Slavic boy names are spelled differently in Polish and Czech, as you can see in the table below:
| Polish | Czech |
|---|---|
| Andrzej | Andrej/ Ondřej |
| Stanisław | Stanislav |
| Mirosław | Miroslav |
| Paweł | Pavel |
Slavic male names from languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet (like Russian, for example) may have several different possible spellings when they are converted to the Latin alphabet that we use in English.
For example, the name Дмитрий can be written in the Latin alphabet as either Dmitry or Dmitri. The name Сергей can be spelled as either Sergey or Sergei when transliterated into the Latin alphabet.
Slavic languages frequently use dithematic names. These names consist of a combination of two themes, each one representing a desirable quality such as love, gladness, peace, or glory.
The name Miroslav, for example, is a dithematic name formed by combining the Slavic roots “mir” (meaning “peace”) and “slav” (meaning “glory”).
Here is a table with some of the common themes found in Slavic dithematic names:
| Root | Meaning |
|---|---|
| slav | glory, fame |
| mir | peace, world, or prestige |
| rad | gladness |
| mil | dear, merciful |
| drag | dear |
| dobro | good |
| bog | God, Lord |
One of the most common elements found in Slavic boy names is the suffix “-slav,” which means “glory” or “fame.” These names are popular in many Slavic countries and often reflect the heroic qualities parents wish for their sons.
| Name | Component 1 | Component 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Stanislav | “stan” (to become) | “slav” (glory or fame) |
| Vladislav | “vlad” (rule or command) | 〃 |
| Radoslav | “rad” (gladness) | 〃 |
| Miloslav | “mil” (dear) | 〃 |
| Miroslav | “mir” (peace) | 〃 |
| Branislav | “brani” (protection) | 〃 |
Stanislav is a name derived from two Slavic roots: “stan” (meaning “to become”) and “slav” (meaning “glory”). As a result, the name Stanislav can be interpreted as meaning “to become glorious”.
VladislavThe name Vladislav combines the elements “vlad” (which means “rule” or “command”) and “slav” (which means “glory” or “fame”). Together, these components produce a meaning such as “glorious ruler” or “famous commander”.
RadoslavThe Slavic root “rad” (which means “glad”) appears in the vocabulary words of many Slavic languages: the Czech adjective “rád”, the Polish adjective “rad”, and the Russian adjective “рад” (rad) all mean “glad”. The root “rad” is also the first element of the Slavic name Radoslav.
MiloslavThe Slavic root “mil” means “dear”; it is the origin of the words “miły” in Polish, “milý” in Czech, and “милый” (milyy) in Russian. It is also the first element in the Slavic dithematic name Miloslav.
MiroslavThe Slavic root “mir” has several different meanings, including “peace”, “world”, and “prestige”. This root is combined with the element “slav” to form the name Miroslav.
BranislavThe first component of the Slavic name Branislav is the root “brani” which means “protection”. That root also appears in vocabulary words in several Slavic languages; for example, the Serbian verb “brániti” and the Czech verb “bránit” both mean “to defend”.
| Name | Component 1 | Component 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Vladimir | “vlad” (rule or master) | “mir” (peace) |
| Damir | “dan” (given) | “mir” (peace) |
| Miroslav | “mir” (peace or world) | “slav” (glory) |
Vladimir is a Slavic dithematic name, in which the first theme, “vlad” means “rule” or “master”. The second theme could be the root “mir” meaning “peace” or another Slavic root meaning “great”.
DamirMainly used in Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia, the name Damir is thought to derive from the Slavic words “dan” (given) and “miru” (peace, world).
MirkoThe name Mirko is a Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, and Macedonian form of the name Miroslav, which derives from a combination of the Slavic words miru (peace, world) and slava (glory). There was a Croatian king with this name.
The root “rad” is another popular component found in many Slavic boy names. It means “joy,” and parents choose names that incorporate this root with the hope that their sons will be joyful and bring happiness to those around them.
RadomirThe name Radomir combines the elements “rad,” meaning “joy,” and “mir,” meaning “peace” or “world.” The feminine form of this name is Radomira.
RadosławThe name Radosław is composed of two Slavic roots: “rad,” meaning “joy,” and “sław,” meaning “glory” or “fame.”
MiloradThe name Milorad is composed of the elements “mil,” meaning “gracious” or “dear,” and “rad,” meaning “joy.” This name is predominantly used in Serbia, although it can also be found in other Slavic countries.
The Slavic root “drag” ( which means “dear” or “beloved”) appears in a number of Slavic boy names.
| Name | Component 1 | Component 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dragoslav | “drago” (dear) | “slav” (glory) |
| Dragomir | “drago” (dear) | “mir” (peace or world) |
| Dragoljub | “drago” (dear) | “ljub” (love) |
| Predrag | “pre” (very) | “drag” (dear) |
| Miodrag | “mio” (cute) | “drag” (dear) |
| Name | Component 1 | Component 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dobroslav | “dobro” (good) | “slav” (glory) |
| Dobromir | “dobro” (good) | “mir” (peace or world) |
| Dobromil | “dobro” (good) | “mil” (dear) |
Some Slavic names are formed by combining Slavic root words; others are formed by adapting names from Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and other languages to reflect the phonetic characteristics of the Slavic languages.
AleksandrAleksandr is one of the most popular Slavic boy names. It is an Eastern European equivalent of the name Alexander. This name has Greek origins as it originates from the Greek name “Alexandros,” meaning “a defending man.” The most famous bearer of this name was the king of Macedon, Alexander the Great.
AlexeiAlexei is a Russian equivalent of the Greek name Alexis, meaning “helper” or “defender.” It is also sometimes spelled Aleksey. A 17th-century czar of Russia bore this name.
AnatoliAnatoli (sometimes spelled Anatoliy) is the Russian and Ukrainian form of the name Anatolius, a Greek name derived from the word anatole, meaning “sunshine.”
AndreasAndreas is an Ancient Greek or Latin form of the name Andrew. The Polish equivalent is Andrzej. This name originates from the Greek word andreios, meaning “manly” or “masculine”.
AntonThe name Anton comes from Antonius, the equivalent of Anthony, and is a form used in many Slavic countries.
BogdanBogdan is a popular name in Poland but is also widely used in other Slavic countries. It comes from the words bogu (God) and dan (given), which combine to produce the meaning of “God-given.”
BorisBoris is a Slavic name that is thought to originate from the Bulgarian-Turkish name of Bogoris. It is also believed that this name means “short,” “wolf,” or “snow leopard.” This name is most common in Bulgaria and Russia.
DaniilDaniil is a Russian and Belarussian form of the name Daniel, which originates from the Hebrew name Daniyyel, meaning “God is my judge.” There was a Hebrew prophet with this name whose story appears in the Old Testament.
DmitriDmitri is a Russian variant of Demetrius, a Greek name related to the goddess Demeter. A famous bearer of the name Dmitri was Dmitri Mendeleev, the creator of the periodic table.
GrigorGrigor is an Armenian, Bulgarian, and Macedonian form of Gregory derived from the Greek name Gregorius, meaning “watchful, alert.” Gregory, or Grigor, is a name of Christian origins which many saints carried.
IgorIgor is a Slavic name derived from the Old Norse name Yngvarr, a combination of the name of a Germanic god, Yngvi, and the word “arr,” meaning “warrior.” Therefore, the name Igor likely means “the warrior of Yngvi.”
IvanSurprisingly enough, the names Ivan and John are etymologically related. Ivan is a newer form of an old Slavic name Ioannu, originating from the Greek name Ioannes. The name Ioannes also gave rise to the English name John.
JanThe name Jan is a newer form of Johannes, which originates from the Greek word Ioannes - the same one that gave rise to the name John. Poland is the leading Slavic country where the name Jan is used.
KazimierzKazimierz is a traditional Polish name. There were four Polish kings with this name.
LevLev, a Slavic variant of the names Leo and Leon, is a Russian name of Greek origin, meaning “lion.”
MaksimThe name Maksim (which is also spelled Maksym) is a Slavic form of the Latin name Maximus. Maximus is an old Roman family name derived from the Latin word “maximus,” meaning “the greatest.”
MarkoMarko is a Slavic form of the name Mark, which comes from the Latin Marcus, a Roman given name that is thought to derive from Mars, the Roman god of war.
MikhailThe name is a Slavic form of the name Michael.
MilanMilan is a name that comes from the Slavic root “milu,” which means “gracious” or “dear.” Despite sharing its name with a famous Italian city, the origin of the name Milan is unrelated to that city’s name.
OlegOleg is a Slavic name derived from the Old Norse name Helgi.
PavelPavel is a Slavic form of the name Paul. It comes from an old Roman family name, Paulus, meaning “small” or “humble” in Latin.
SergeiThe name Sergei (which is also spelled Sergey) is a Russian and Bulgarian variant of the name Sergius which was a Roman family name.
StjepanStjepan is a Slavic form of the name Stephen which comes from Greek.
ViktorViktor is a Slavic spelling of the name Victor, a Roman name meaning “conqueror” or “the one that has won” in Latin.
ZlatkoZlatko is a shortened version of the Slavic name Zlatan, which comes from the word “zlato” meaning “gold.”
ConclusionSlavic boy names often incorporate elements that convey positive traits and aspirations, such as peace, joy, and fame. It is important to note that there are many variations in the spelling and pronunciation of these names across the different Slavic languages. For further exploration, one can refer to the guides specifically dedicated to Czech boy names and Serbian boy names.
This guide also has a companion article that covers Slavic girl names.