Boy · Old Slavic
Václav
Say it: VAHTS-lahf
Meaning
From old Czech Věceslav, from Slavic vęce 'more, greater' and slava 'glory'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
The name of Bohemia's patron saint, killed around 935, it has been one of the most common Czech men's names ever since.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 10 babies given this name since 1915
- At its height in 1915, about 1 in 169,700 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Vašek
| Polish | Wacław |
|---|---|
| Slovak | Václav |
| Russian | Vyacheslav |
| English | Wenceslas |
| German | Wenzel |
| Latin | Venceslaus |
Famous bearers
- Saint Wenceslas (Václav), Duke of Bohemia
- Václav Havel, Czech president
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Medieval Slavic chronicles and charters
- Royal and noble genealogies
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.