Vlad
Masculine · “Rule”
Vlad is the front half of Vladimir and Vladislav, and the element it carries is one of the busiest in Slavic naming: volod, to rule. It is also, unavoidably, the first name of a fifteenth-century Wallachian prince whose reputation has outlived everything else about him.
How old is the name Vlad?
Vlad first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Vlad alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 500 people named Vlad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vlad most popular?
Vlad peaked in 2004, reaching #3534 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 2,074 places below that high. See the whole 2004 chart.
Where it comes from
From vladĕti to Vlad
The story of Vlad
Vlad III of Wallachia ruled in the 1450s and 1470s and resisted Ottoman expansion by methods that gave him the epithet Ţepeş, the Impaler; his father's membership of the Order of the Dragon gave him the patronymic Dracula. Bram Stoker took the name for his 1897 novel and attached it to a vampire, which is why an ordinary Romanian and Slavic name now carries a specific horror association in English. Vlad remains common in Romania, Russia and Ukraine. American records show it rising with post-Soviet immigration from the 1990s and peaking in 2004.
Meaning
Rule, to rule
From the Slavic element volodĕti or vladĕti, to rule or to own, which opens Vladimir and closes Vladislav, Boleslav and Miroslav. The reading is settled. Vlad is the short form used as a name in its own right in Romanian and Russian; Vladimir's second element is generally read as great or famous, and the popular gloss ruler of the world is a later reinterpretation.
How the name formed
- vladĕti
- Vladimir
- Vlad
Related forms: Vlad · Влад · Vlad · Władysław
Pronouncing Vlad
VLAHD
One syllable, with an open a. The initial vl cluster is unusual in English but not difficult; Slavic speakers give the a a fuller value than American English does.
Nicknames for Vlad
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1995
- Most boys named
- 200426 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3534reached in 2004
- Change vs 2024
- +23.1%16 in 2025, from 13
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Vlad in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Vlad in Romanian — same name
- Влад in Russian — transliteration
- Vlad in Ukrainian — same name
- Władysław in Polish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Illinois.
Vlads among us
people named Vlad are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Vlad
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Graviel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Vlad's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Graviel climbed just as high around 1938, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Graviel's path sketches the road Vlad is walking now.
Vlad sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Vlad beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Vlad in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and shared with one of the largest Slavic name families.
- One syllable and four letters make it very compact.
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- The vampire association is overwhelming in English-speaking countries.
- It reads as a short form to Slavic speakers, for whom Vladimir is the full name.
- The vl opening does not occur at the start of any native English word.
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What they receive
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Vlad
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Vlads are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Vlad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vlad in 2025?
- Vlad ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Vlad?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Vlad — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Vlad with classmates?
- Vlad will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Vlad
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Vlad? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vlad and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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