Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland?

The name Miłosław I'd say is one of the few "-sław" names I've seen on Polish males younger than middle-aged, same with the first names "Jarosław", "Przemysław" and "Radosław", plus maybe a couple other "-sławs" I can't remember right now. But it seems almost all of those males remove the "-vowel + sław" part and replace with "-ek", and so they're calling themselves "Jarek", "Miłek", "Przemek", "Radek" etc instead

Stanisław became popular again a few years ago. Plenty of Stasieks in their 20s.

It was always explained to me that doing this was to make the name "More Familiar",in the sense of friend or family and to shorten the name.

I get the first part,but the shortening I struggled with.....especialy with my uncle Zenon.....who was always called Zenek....

I just came across these 2 big lists of Polish first names, including shortened "diminutive" versions and (if applicable) English counterparts...unfortunately the name Miłosław isn't on the lists, but they did list the names Miłosz (1st list only, it says Miłosz is a diminutive of Miłosław) and Mirosław...same with your uncle's name Zenon and diminutive versions:

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Polish_given_names

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Polish_given_names

Beautiful classic names never go out of fashion.

Aleksanda [den. Ola], an ancient Greek name, popularised in Poland by a writer Henryk Sienkiewicz

Grażyna, a name created in XIX century by Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz

Aleksandra is still popular but Grazyna...it started to be used as synonym for simple ppl. If you read Polish internet forums/comments you'll notice ' Janusze i Grazyny'

My best friend`s name is Janusz. I pity him. We never talk about the negative connotations his first name evokes, but I know he isn`t happy about it.

Along with Grażyna and Janusz, we have Seba (Sebastian) and Karyna (Karina) - sort of younger and cheaper versions of the first two.
Dzesika and Brajanek also appear in memes - quite often as the youngest generation of the previous ones.
These names are quite ridiculed now.
As for Szymon and Jakub, they've been among the most popular names for boys for years -especially the latter one.
Wojtek and Franek made a great come back several years ago but I'd say names like Zdzisław/a, Zbigniew, Kazimierz, not to mention Apolonia, Wincenty or Wawrzyniec are rather unpopular now.

But the thing is a lot of old fashioned names become suddenly popular ....

How about "Aldona"?

Used to have many students with that name, now, no more.

I have known only one Aldona in my life.
Never considered it popular.

Thank you, kaprys. That's rather what I thought:-)

No problem.
Out of curiosity, how old would 'your' Aldonas be now?

Mirosław /a, Wiesław /a, Zygmunt , Halina, Janina, Walenty are also quite old fashioned

Gosh, she'd likely be at least 38 or so. This was over twenty years ago, at which time, she was about 19.

Yes, seemingly so. Pity too, as those are among my favorite Polish names.
Hope Krysia hasn't too been consigned to the scrap heap!
:-)

I know several Halinas who are actually Helenas trying to sound younger!

...or more PolishLOL

Isn't there some old (children's) folk song, "Halinka, Halinka.......drabinka....", or something like that?
Perhaps I'm just imagining things:-)

...nursery rhyme, excuse me

Merged:

Help with picking an old Polish male name :)

What is a really old, funny, not-so-used-anymore Polish male name? Something that like an old man would have. Like the equivalent of Earl or Carl or something in America. Something that if you named a young person or baby it, then it would make people giggle.

Here's a recent thread about old/unpopular Polish first names:

What's the point of making life more difficult for a baby from the start of his life?

@RubasznyRumcajs

Outside of Poland it is difficult enough having a Polish surname :-)

@Miloslaw
Tell me about it. No point of giving him a Polish name, especially considering that his parent's connection to Poland is weak (otherwise they wouldn't ask for a name here)

The thing is that old fashioned names are very popular in Poland now. You can hear names my grandparents and great grandparents used to have.

The ones that are laughed at are those that sort of function as an impersonification of certain features:
Janusz and Grazyna -middle aged and not so bright
Seba (Sebastian) and Karina - in their 20s or so living off the welfare.
Dzesika and Brajan (aka as Jessica and Brian ) - their kids.

Each generation designates their own ridicule names. In 1990s I was driven to work by a rural guy who said Leon/Karol when he meant a male sucker/ loser/idiot.

Suppose names go through phases, just like any other fashion:-)
Had an English student from Zakopane of late, first name S-E-W-E-R-Y-N!

He claimed the name is ultra uncommon, being only nineteen at present, and felt his parents were trying to punish him with such a name! Wonder if there's any truth to that.

Ultra uncommon - yes. There is a famous Polish actor with such a surname - Andrzej Seweryn.

As for his parents` punishing him with such a name, it is rubbish, of course. Parents gave him a special name because they expected him to be like that. When he didn`t fulfill their expectations and proved an average guy, they felt disappointed and let him know about it. In result, he got disappointed with them, too.

If they had really wanted to punish him as an unloved child, they would have named him Adolf or Alfons.

Is the first name Danuta considered outdated in Poland? (The only Danutas I know are 50+ yrs old)

One of my cousins is a Danuta, and yeah, she is over 50.
But Denise in English is out of fashion too.
However, as Kaprys said in an earlier post, some of these old names are coming back.
It is a constant roundabout, but some names never get back onto it.

How about Polish women's names with sława ending? Those also seem outdated and not making comebacks, and also only women age 50+. I'd say the name Denise isn't too common these days, but also not outdated like Beatrice, Bernice, Beula/Beulah, Delores, Doris, Dorothy, Florence, Gertrude, Harriet, Henrietta, Mildred, Millicent, Shirley, etc...for example I'm pretty sure there were no Denises (or even Dennis's) on board the Titanic back in 1912, but I'm sure that there was at least one of (most of) the other names I listed

the 500 plus crowd was going heavy for English names a few years ago... which meant that anyone who aspired to more for their children didn't dare give their children names like Samant(h)a or Dżesika or Brajan...

Dżesika cleans Aleksandra's house is how one friend put it...

But there aren't many young Danutas or Jowitas (more's the pity).

Oh I forgot to ask, speaking of the name Dennis, is that name common or uncommon/nonexistent in Poland? Or at least spelled Denis/Denys in Poland? (better Denys, so that it's pronounced same way both in Polish and English)

I've heard as a lower class name (see post about underclass going in for English names a few years ago)