If you’re looking for unusual baby name inspiration, look to Poland. In the past it was more common to celebrate the ‘name day’ rather than a birthday…
Names were derived usually from Saints’ days. Parents consulted the Roman Calendar and looked for a saint’s name whose feast day was on or near the birth of their child. Often the date chosen was the one closest to the baptism rather than the actual birthday, but usually within three weeks of the birth.
Naming after godparents is another naming practice: in Polish the godfather is known as ‘kmotr’ or ‘kumoter’ and the godmother is called a ‘kumoszka’.
Top 10 most popular Polish names
| Rank | Boy names | Girl names |
| 1 | Jan | Anna |
| 2 | Andrzej | Maria |
| 3 | Piotr | Katarzyna |
| 4 | Krzysztof | Malgorzata |
| 5 | Stanislaw | Agnieszka |
| 6 | Tomasz | Krystyna |
| 7 | Pawel | Barbara |
| 8 | Józef | Ewa |
| 9 | Marcin | Elzbieta |
| 10 | Marek | Zofia |
Popular Polish names for girls and boys
| Polish Girl Names | Polish Boy Names |
| Albinka | Adam |
| Aldona | Adrian |
| Alicja | Albin |
| Agata | Aleksander |
| Anastazja | Aleksy |
| Ania | Andrzej |
| Aniela | Armand |
| Antonina | Antoni |
| Barbara | Arkadiusz |
| Beata | Artur |
| Bozena | Augustyn |
| Diana | Bazyli |
| Dorota | Bartosz |
| Edyta | Bartlomiej |
| Elwira | Bernard |
| Euzebia | Blazej |
| Ewa | Bogumil |
| Felicja | Boguslaw |
| Franciszka | Bonifacy |
| Gizela | Cibor |
| Grazyna | Cyprian |
| Halina | Damian |
| Helena | Darek |
| Iwona | Dawid |
| Jana | Dominik |
| Jadwiga | Daniel |
| Justyna | Edward |
| Julia | Emil |
| Judyta | Emanuel |
| Józefa | Eryk |
| Jolanta | Feliks |
| Jakubina | Filip |
| Janina | Franciszek |
| Jagna | Fryderyk |
| Julianna | Grzegorz |
| Jozefina | Gerald |
| Jaroslawa | Henryk |
| Jasia | Hubert |
| Kordelia | Jan |
| Klotylda | Jacek |
| Kinga | Janek |
| Kamila | Jarek |
| Karolina | Jedrek |
| Klaudia | Jerzy |
| Kalina | Jedrus |
| Kleopatra | Joachim |
| Klara | Józef |
| Kasia | Kacper |
| Kasienka | Kamil |
| Kaska | Kazimierz |
| Kasia | Karol |
| Katarzyna | Konrad |
| Katarina | Klaudiusz |
| Krystiana | Kornel |
| Kazimiera | Kolby |
| Konstancja | Krzysztof |
| Krystyna | Leon |
| Leonia | Lech |
| Laura | Luboslaw |
| Larysa | Ludwik |
| Lidia | Lucjan |
| Lila | Lukasz |
| Lucyna | Maciej |
| Lucja | Maksym |
| Magda | Maksymilian |
| Malina | Mateusz |
| Malgosia | Marcin |
| Manuela | Marek |
| Marika | Marian |
| Marianna | Michal |
| Mariola | Mikolaj |
| Marta | Milosz |
| Marysia | Mariusz |
| Marzena | Norbert |
| Michalina | Oliwier |
| Monika | Patryk |
| Nadia | Pawel |
| Natalia | Piotr |
| Oliwia | Przemyslaw |
| Otylia | Rafal |
| Paulina | Robert |
| Patrycja | Rafal |
| Petronela | Rajmund |
| Regina | Roman |
| Roma | Ryszard |
| Sabina | Sergiusz |
| Sylwia | Stefan |
| Sara | Tadeusz |
| Teresa | Teodor |
| Wanda | Tomasz |
| Weronika | Tomislaw |
| Wiktoria | Waldemar |
| Wiola | Walerian |
| Wiera | Wojciech |
| Zenobia | Waclaw |
| Zofia | Zbyszek |
| Zuzanna | Zdzislaw |
| Zyta | Zygmunt |
