The name Marian, although clearly masculine in its Latin origin, holds a special place in Polish tradition. It began to gain popularity in the 19th century and in the 1950s was one of the most frequently given male names in the country. However, data from the PESEL register show a clear decline in its presence among newborns: in the first half of 2025, it was given to only five boys, while at the beginning of the 21st century it was worn by over 300,000 people. Currently, there are 123,964 men named Marian in the register, which clearly illustrates the aging of this group and gradual disappearance of the name in new age groups.
In the rather homogeneous system of male names, Marian stands out with one more element: There are also 35 women with this name in Polish registers. Some of these entries are the result of migration and transfer of data from foreign documents in which this name is sometimes used as a female name or functions in a different linguistic tradition. This is common, among others: in some countries in South America and Europe, where the name may be used as a variant of female names related to Mary, Marianne or Mariana. Therefore, in Polish lists, Marian should be distinguished from female names with a stable status, such as or Mariana, which have their own origin and times greater number of carriers.
Read also:
The unique status of this name is reflected in tradition of giving the name Maria to men (as the second one). This custom, present in Catholic culture since the 15th century, applies only to Mary and is symbolic, which is confirmed by the examples of many clergy and public figures, including: Maksymilian Maria Kolbe or Bronisław Maria Komorowski. Polish regulations to this day only allow this one female name as a male middle name, excluding other combinations that could introduce confusion as to gender. At the same time, Maria remains one of the most popular female names in Poland, according to data from 2025, it is worn by over 576,000 women, which gives it third place in national statistics.
For decades, the Polish legal system had a rule according to which the name had to clearly indicate the child’s gender. This regulation perpetuated a clear division: female names most often ended with “-a”, while male names ended with a consonant, with a few exceptions that had existed in tradition for a long time, such as Cosmas, Barnabas or Bonaventure. The offices rejected proposals for names that were ambiguous, diminutive or considered inappropriate, which limited the possibility of using names. The change occurred with the entry into force of the new Act on Civil Status Records in March 2015, which also allowed names that do not directly refer to gender, provided that they function in social circulation and do not violate language rules.
Read also:
After the liberalization of regulations, the registers gradually began to include names used in different cultures without a clear gender association. The records included, among others: Alex, Andrea, Carmen, Hannah, Kelvin, Lorenzo and Mike, and their entries do not require Polishing or adapting endings. Practice shows, however, that the neutrality of a name is not synonymous with its symmetrical use – Alex in Poland remains more popular among boys, while Andrea and Carmen are registered primarily as female names, even though in other countries They also come in men’s versions.
Unique choices also appear in the decisions adults make formal change in the office. As a result, we can see names such as Charlie, Jordan or Robin more and more often. At the same time, the summary of statistics shows a clear contrast: the lists of the most popular names are still dominated by Nikodem, Antoni or Zofia, which creates a system based on a strong cultural core around which a small but growing group of universal names.
