Waldemar
Masculine · “famous ruler”
Waldemar and Valdemar are the same name divided by a border. Danish and Swedish write the V; German and Polish write the W, which they say as a V anyway. Behind both is a name that began in Kiev as Vladimir and was carried north by marriage — so this thoroughly German-looking word is a Slavic name in Germanic clothes.
How old is the name Waldemar?
Waldemar first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Waldemar alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 500 people named Waldemar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Waldemar most popular?
Waldemar peaked in 1906, reaching #798 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 11,210 places below that high. See the whole 1906 chart.
Where it comes from
From Volodimer to Waldemar
The story of Waldemar
The name entered Scandinavia through a Danish king named for his Kievan great-grandfather, and from there spread into the German-speaking lands and into Poland, where Waldemar became genuinely common and remains so. Polish also kept its own direct descendant of the Slavic name, so the two forms sit side by side there — one that came home the long way and one that never left. American records carry Waldemar mostly from German and Polish families, arriving with the migrations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Meaningscholars disagree
famous ruler, or ruler of the world
The Germanic reading takes wald, rule, and mar, famous — which is what the spelling suggests and what most German speakers assume. The original Slavic reading is different: a verb meaning to rule joined to mir, which means both peace and world. The Germanic version is a reinterpretation of a foreign name, and it has been in place so long that it is now a real reading in its own right.
How the name formed
- Volodimer
- Valdemar
- Waldemar
Related forms: Waldemar · Waldemar · Valdemar · Vladimir · Valto
Pronouncing Waldemar
VAL-deh-mar
Three syllables, stress on the first. German and Polish both say the initial w as an English v, which is the single thing Americans get wrong on sight. The Polish stress falls on the second syllable, val-DEH-mar, which is a real difference between the two traditions.
Nicknames for Waldemar
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
- 1891
- Most boys named
- 191847 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #798reached in 1906
- Change vs 2022
- 0.0%5 in 2025, from 5
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.
Waldemar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Waldemar in German — same name
- Waldemar in Polish — same name
- Valdemar in Danish — spelling variant
- Vladimir in Russian — same name
- Valto in Finnish — related form
Waldemars among us
people named Waldemar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Waldemar
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Waldemar 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
Waldemar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Waldemar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is entirely standard in Poland and Germany, so it is a real name rather than a curiosity.
- Waldek and Waldi are both genuine familiar forms with warmth to them.
- It has an unusual and completely documented history — a Slavic name that went north and came back changed.
- Every syllable is easy for an English speaker to produce once the w is settled.
- Americans will say the w as a w, and correcting that is a permanent small task.
- Valdemar is the Scandinavian spelling and will be written by anyone from that tradition.
- Eight letters and three syllables is a substantial name, though the short forms are ready.
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Waldemar
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Waldemars 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 Waldemar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Waldemar in 2025?
- Waldemar ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Waldemar?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Waldemar — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Waldemar with classmates?
- Waldemar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Waldemar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Waldemar? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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