Vladimir


Vladimir is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria.

Etymology

The Old East Slavic form of the name is Володимѣръ Volodiměr, while the Old Church Slavonic form is Vladiměr. According to Max Vasmer, the name is composed of Slavic владь vladĭ "to rule" and *mēri "great", "famous".
The modern Russian forms Владимиръ and Владиміръ are based on the Church Slavonic one, with the replacement of мѣръ by миръ or міръ resulting from a folk etymological association with миръ "peace" or міръ "world".
The Bolshevik reform of Russian spelling in 1918 abolished the orthographic distinction between миръ and міръ : both are now spelled as мир, so the name came to be spelled Владимир.
Its Germanic relative, Waldemar, almost exactly shares the same meaning with the name Robert.

History

The earliest known record of this name was the name of Vladimir-Rasate, ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire. Vladimir-Rasate was the second Bulgarian ruler following the Christianization of Bulgaria and the introduction of Old Church Slavonic as the language of church and state. The name of his pre-Christian dynastic predecessor, khan Malamir, sometimes claimed as the first Bulgarian ruler with a Slavic name, already exhibits the -mir suffix.
The name Vladimir also gave rise to an East Slavic adaptation, Vladimir or Volodimir. Following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988 during the reign of Vladimir the Great, the name Vladimir, along with other pagan names, was gradually replaced with Christian names, although the name Vladimir retained its popularity within the princely family in the following centuries.
Three successors of Vladimir the Great shared his given name: Vladimir II Monomakh, Vladimir III Mstislavich and Vladimir IV Rurikovich. The town Volodymyr in north-western Ukraine was founded by Vladimir and is named after him. The foundation of another town, Vladimir in Russia, is usually attributed to Vladimir II Monomakh. However, some researchers argue that it was also founded by Vladimir the Great. The veneration of Vladimir the Great as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church gave rise to the replacement of the East Slavic form of his name with the Old Church Slavonic one. The immense importance of Vladimir the Great as national and religious founder resulted in Vladimir becoming one of the most frequently-given Russian names.

Variants

The Slavic name survives in two traditions, the Old Church Slavonic one using the vocalism Vladi- and the Old East Slavic one in the vocalism Volodi-.
The Old Church Slavonic form Vladimir is used in Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Macedonian, borrowed into Slovenian, Croatian Vladimir, Czech and Slovak Vladimír.
The polnoglasie "-olo-" of Old East Slavic form Vladimir persists in the Ukrainian form Volodymyr, borrowed into Slovak Volodymýr.
Historical diminutive forms include: Vladimirko, Volodymyrko.
In Belarusian the name is spelled Uladzimir or Uladzimier .
In Polish, the name is spelled Włodzimierz.
In Russian, shortened and endeared versions of the name are Volodya, Vova, Vovchik, Vovan. In West and South Slavic countries, other short versions are used: e.g., Vlade, Vlado, Vlada, Vladica, Vladko, Vlatko, Vlajko, Vladan, Władek, Wlodik and Włodek.
The Germanic form, Waldemar or Woldemar, is sometimes traced to Valdemar I of Denmark named after his Russian maternal grandfather, Vladimir II Monomakh. The Germanic name is reflected in Latvian Voldemārs and Finnic Voldemar.
The Greek form is Vladimiros. The name is most common in Northern Greece especially among the Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia. Diminutives of the name among these Slavic speakers are Vlade and Mire.
The Komi form is Ľaďe and Voloď .
In Udmurt, the name is spelled Ladi, Vova, Vovik, and Laďmer.
The Mari form is Lajd, Lӓjmyr, and Lajdemyr.
Wladimir for an alternative spelling of the name.

People with the name

Royalty