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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Polish name for a boy

57 replies

GreenLemonade · 11/05/2025 11:44

We're looking for a boy name that would work well in English and Polish. Ideally, I would like it to be pronounced and spelled in a similar way in both languages. Minor differences are ok.

I don't mind if the name is popular. I would like it to sound quite modern and not too unusual/old fashioned in either language.

We like Leon and Artur but we can't use them.

Names on our list:
Albert
Antoni
Filip
Henryk
Kacper
Oskar
Tomasz

I would appreciate your thoughts on my list and any additional suggestions. Thanks!

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GetTheGoodLookingGuy · 11/05/2025 17:26

I'm a teacher and have worked in schools with lots of Polish families, so most of these names are familiar to me, so I don't see any problems with pronounciation, but I guess it depends what your area's like.

Do you like Kamil or Patryk? I haven't seen them mentioned on here, but I've seen them on primary aged children in the last 5 years or so.

The Leon I know has a brother called Marcel. I also like Kacper (I've come across lots of Polish Kacpers so this just seems like the most normal spelling to me now!), Oskar, Kuba and Bartosz (I've known three or four and none of them shortened at all). I love the sound of Mikolaj but I do think that might cause pronounciation issues.

uncomfortablydumb60 · 11/05/2025 17:25

Oskar or Tomasz work well
what about Lucasz?

queenofthesuburbs · 11/05/2025 17:25

My son has a few university friends called Jan and no one calls them Ian or pronounces the J.

It’s a really nice classic name

BoleynMemories13 · 11/05/2025 17:20

Oskar, Tomasz or Kacper are my favourites. Unlike others, I don't think the spelling of Kacper will be a problem, but then I do live in an area where there are a lot of Polish families so I'm very familiar with this spelling. Maybe it depends where you live?

brieandbacon · 11/05/2025 17:11

My nephew is Otto. His brother Jakub (Kuba for short).

HugoYorway · 11/05/2025 17:05

@GreenLemonade , It's a name I hear often (it's the same individual), but when I asked a Polish acquaintance, I was told it was short for Tadeusz, and that Tadeusz was a bit 'old man'.

Often though, names can sneak back into fashion and unless you have very young children, you'll still think them dated.

I like Bartosz too. Bart is cool. I also like Leszek, but I think it might be a bit of a 75-yr old's name.

Newmeagain · 11/05/2025 16:55

Helluvabrush · 11/05/2025 16:44

I absolutely love Bartosz. My son is 4 and his friend has this name, no issues with pronunciation at all.

It’s nice but it will get shortened to Bart…

Kamek · 11/05/2025 16:48

Aleksander and Daniel work well in both languages.

Helluvabrush · 11/05/2025 16:44

I absolutely love Bartosz. My son is 4 and his friend has this name, no issues with pronunciation at all.

Original poster
GreenLemonade · 11/05/2025 16:33

@HugoYorway Tadek is a great name but it sounds old fashioned to me. Maybe it's just because I know a few middle aged Tadeks, including my uncle and my dad's good friend, both in their 60s 😄

But looking at the rankings it's definately on the way up so maybe it's just me!

OP posts:
HugoYorway · 11/05/2025 16:28

@queenofthesuburbs , Andrzej.
@SDmdzMn , Lukasz.

HugoYorway · 11/05/2025 16:24

@MirandaBlu , OP says We like Leon and Artur but we can't use them.

@GreenLemonade , is Tadek old-fashioned. (Not sure I got the spelling right - sounds like Tadgick.)

Original poster
GreenLemonade · 11/05/2025 15:19

I would be also interested to hear your thoughts on the names on my list from my first post 😊

Thanks!

OP posts:
gerispringer · 11/05/2025 15:07

Stefan

Weefreetiffany · 11/05/2025 15:05

Jozef, Ivo, Milo, Bruno, Janek, Jarek, Radek, Remo, Casimir, Marek, Frank, Maksim, Nikolai are all said as written

user593 · 11/05/2025 14:57

Maksym (Maks/ Max)?

Original poster
GreenLemonade · 11/05/2025 14:55

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions, they are very helpful.

There are many Polish names that I like but I don't always have a good sense for how they they sound and feel to a native English speaker. For example, it didn't occur to me that the "c" in Kacper might be problematic so thank you for pointing it out.

I do have a front-runner on my list, I didn't mention it because I wanted to hear unbiased opinions.

I love some of the suggested names:
Adam - I really like it but DH doesn't
Gabriel - DH likes it, I'm not a fan
Franek - love it but the full version in Polish is Franciszek which seems difficult to spell, especially since the surname is already long
Jan - sounds great in Polish but wouldn't it be confused with Ian?
Tadeusz - lovely name but to me sounds very dated
Leon - that's the name of our first son 😊

Please keep them coming, this is super helpful!

OP posts:
Funnyduck60 · 11/05/2025 14:45

Bartoz

HurrahWuff · 11/05/2025 14:26

Franek

Xiaoxiong · 11/05/2025 14:11

Jakub
Marek
Damian
Jan
Casimir
Marcin

(None of the above triggered my phone autocorrect...!)

MirandaBlu · 11/05/2025 14:02

Just adding Adam, Daniel, Gabriel, Leon, Roland, and Stefan (slight pronunciation differences, but recognisable as the same name) if you want something with the same spelling in both languages.

Love Tadeusz and Eliasz, if you don't mind English speakers potentially shortening them to Tad and Eli!

Iloveagoodnap · 11/05/2025 13:57

If you use a name that sounds the same but has different spellings in Poland and England then if you live in England he will spend his life having his name spelt incorrect. For example, he might give his name as Kacper when signing in somewhere but it will be automatically written as Casper. I would either give him a more obviously Polish name or go for Albert if it’s the same in both countries.

queenofthesuburbs · 11/05/2025 13:49

Andzrej?

wakeboarder · 11/05/2025 13:47

Marcel is used in Poland and is spelt same as English version ( it's just pronounced slightly differently)

SDmdzMn · 11/05/2025 13:38

Lucaz? Is that Polish? I also like Tomasz 👍