Vladimir (name)

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For other uses, see Vladimir (disambiguation).

Vladimir (Влади́мир) is a Slavic given name of Church Slavonic and Old East Slavic origin, now widespread throughout all Slavic nations. The first part of the name is derived from the Slavic root vlad for "rule", and the second part - from the root mer for "great, famous, glorious". Hence, it means "ruling with fame", "regal" [1].

Folk etymology interprets the meaning as "sovereign of the people" or "sovereign of the world" or "the one who rules with peace". This confusion is introduced by other meanings of the Slavic word "Mir" or "Myr" - peace, people/community, and the world.

In Old Church Slavonic tradition, preserved in Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian and later borrowed into Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian, the name is spelled Vladimir. In Polish the name is spelled Włodzimierz.

In Old East Slavic tradition, preserved in Ukrainian, the name is spelled Volodimir, Volodimer, or Volodymyr (Володимир).

In Belarusian the name is spelled Uladzimir (Uładzimir, Уладзімір) or Uladzimier (Uładzimier, Уладзімер).

The name owes its popularity outside Slavic countries to Saint Vladimir, who became a hero of many Norse sagas, and to his great grandson Volodymyr Monomakh, after whom Valdemar the Great of Denmark was named. In German and Nordic usage, the name came to be pronounced as Valdemar and Waldemar ("wald": rule, "meri": famous, "heri": army). Romanian derivations are Vlad and Vladutz.

In East Slavic languages, short versions of the name are Vova and Volodya. In other countries, other pet versions are used: e.g., Vlada, Vlado, Wlodek, Volya, Vlatko, Vlad. The feminine version of the name is Vladimira.