Václav
Václav or rarely Vácslav is a Czech male given name. It is among the most common Czech names. The Latinized form of the name is Wenceslaus and the Polish form of the name is Wacław. The name was derived from the old Czech name Veceslav, meaning 'more famous'. Nicknames are Vašek, Vašík, Venca, Venda.
The Latinized form is used in English for Czech kings and some other early modern notable people. The people listed below are Czech unless otherwise noted. Notable people with the name include:
Nobility
- Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, saint
- Wenceslaus II, Duke of Bohemia
- Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, King of Bohemia
- Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, King of Bohemia and Poland
- Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Bohemia and Poland
- Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia, King of Bohemia and German King
- Wenceslaus II, Duke of Opava, duke
- Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg, first Duke of Luxembourg
- Václav Eusebius František, Prince of Lobkowicz, Bohemian nobleman, military leader and diplomat
Arts and entertainment
- Václav Noid Bárta, singer, songwriter and actor
- Václav Binovec, film director and screenwriter
- Václav Brožík, painter
- Václav Černý (writer), writer and philosopher
- Václav Čtvrtek, writer and philosopher
- Václav Glazar, actor
- Wenceslaus Hollar, etcher
- Václav Hrabě, poet and writer
- Václav Jamek, writer and translator
- Václav Jiráček, actor
- Václav Jírů, photographer and writer
- Václav Kaplický, writer, journalist and poet
- Václav Kliment Klicpera, playwright and poet
- Václav Kopta, actor
- Václav Lohniský, actor
- Václav Luks, musician, conductor, musicologist and pedagogue
- Václav Marhoul, film director and screenwriter
- Václav Neckář, singer and actor
- Václav Nelhýbel, Czech-American composer
- Václav Neumann, conductor, violinist and viola player
- Václav Neužil, actor
- Vašo Patejdl, Slovak singer and composer
- Václav Postránecký, actor
- Václav Renč, poet and dramatist
- Václav Řezáč, writer
- Václav Talich, conductor and violinist
- Václav Trégl, actor
- Václav Trojan, composer and arranger
- Václav Vorlíček, film director
- Václav Vydra (1876–1953), actor
- Václav Vydra (born 1956), actor
- Václav Wasserman, screenwriter, actor and director
- Jan Václav Voříšek, composer and pianist
- Josef Václav Myslbek, sculptor
Sport
- Václav Černý (footballer), footballer
- Václav Daněk, footballer
- Václav Drobný, footballer
- Václav Finěk, chess player
- Václav Kadlec, footballer
- Václav Jemelka, footballer
- Václav Jurečka, footballer
- Václav Koloušek, footballer
- Václav Mašek, footballer
- Václav Němeček, footballer
- Václav Nestrašil, ice hockey player
- Václav Pilař, footballer
- Václav Procházka, footballer
- Václav Prospal, ice hockey player and coach
- Václav Svěrkoš, footballer
- Václav Varaďa, ice hockey player and coach
Other
- Václav Hanka, philologist
- Václav Havel, politician and writer, President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic
- Václav Holek, firearm engineer
- Václav Jelínek, Czechoslovak spy
- Václav Jícha, World War II flying ace
- Václav Klaus, politician and economist, President of the Czech Republic
- Václav Klement, entrepreneur, industrialist and automotive pioneer
- Václav Matěj Kramerius, publisher and journalist
- Václav Laurin, engineer, industrialist and automotive pioneer
- Václav Morávek, brigadier general and member of the anti-Nazi resistance
- Vaclav Smil, Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst
- Václav Vacek, politician