Vladimir (
Russian: Влади́мир,
pre-1918 orthography: Владиміръ)[1] 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 (
r. 889–893).
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" (related to
Gothic element mērs, -mir, c.f.
Theodemir,
Valamir). The modern (
pre-1918) 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".[2]
The
Bolshevik reform of Russian spelling in 1918 abolished the orthographic distinction between
миръ (peace) and
міръ (universe, world): both are now spelled as
мир, so the name came to be spelled Владимир.
Its Germanic derivative,
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 (died 893), 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 (r. 831–836), sometimes claimed as the first Bulgarian ruler with a Slavic name, already exhibits the (presumably Gothic) -mir suffix.
The name Vladimir also gave rise to an
East Slavic adaptation, Volodimer or Volodimir (
Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ).[3] 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.[4]
Three successors of Vladimir the Great shared his given name:
Vladimir II Monomakh (1053–1125),
Vladimir III Mstislavich (1132–1173) and
Vladimir IV Rurikovich (1187–1239). The town
Volodymyr in north-western Ukraine was founded by Vladimir and is named after him.[5] 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.[6] 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 (Old Bulgarian) 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.[citation needed]
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 polnoglasie "-olo-" of Old East Slavic form Volodiměr (Володимѣръ) persists in the
Ukrainian form Volodymyr (Володимир), borrowed into
SlovakVolodymýr.
In Russian,
shortened and endeared versions of the name are Volodya (and variants with
diminutive suffixes: Volod'ka, Volodyen'ka, etc.), Vova (and diminutives: Vovka,
Vovochka, etc.), 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.[citation needed]
The Greek form is Vladimiros (Βλαδίμηρος). 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.
Vladimir Sukhomlinov (1848–1926) Russian general of the Imperial Russian Army who served as the Chief of the General Staff from 1908 to 1909 and the Minister of War from 1909 to 1915
Vladimir Kvachkov, Russian former
Spetsnaz colonel and military intelligence officer, known for being arrested and charged for the attempted assassination
Vladimir Pozner Sr. (1908-1975), Russian-Jewish émigré to the United States who spied for Soviet intelligence while employed by the US government
Vladimir Komarov (1927–1967), Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut, commander of
Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member, solo pilot of
Soyuz 1 and the first human to die in a space flight
Vladimir Dedijer, Yugoslav partisan fighter during World War II who became known as a politician, human rights activist, and historian, representative of
Yugoslavia at the
United Nations
Vladimir Korolenko, Ukrainian-born Russian writer, journalist, human rights activist and humanitarian of Ukrainian and Polish origin
Vladimir Makei, Belarusian politician who has served as the minister of foreign affairs of Belarus since 2012
Vladimir Medinsky (born 1970), Russian political figure, academic and publicist who served as the Minister of Culture of Russia from May 2012 to January 2020
^Litvina, A. (2006). Выбор имени у русских князей в X—XVI вв. Династическая история сквозь призму антропонимики. Moscow: Indrik. p. 904.
ISBN5-85759-339-5.
^Henryk Paszkiewicz. The making of the Russian nation. Greenwood Press. 1977. Cracow 1996, pp. 77–79.
^С. В. Шевченко (ред.).
К вопросу о дате основания г. Владимира, ТОО "Местное время", 1992. (S. V. Shevchenko (ed.). On the foundation date of Vladimir. in Russian)
Look up Vladimir in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Vladimir (
Russian: Влади́мир,
pre-1918 orthography: Владиміръ)[1] 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 (
r. 889–893).
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" (related to
Gothic element mērs, -mir, c.f.
Theodemir,
Valamir). The modern (
pre-1918) 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".[2]
The
Bolshevik reform of Russian spelling in 1918 abolished the orthographic distinction between
миръ (peace) and
міръ (universe, world): both are now spelled as
мир, so the name came to be spelled Владимир.
Its Germanic derivative,
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 (died 893), 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 (r. 831–836), sometimes claimed as the first Bulgarian ruler with a Slavic name, already exhibits the (presumably Gothic) -mir suffix.
The name Vladimir also gave rise to an
East Slavic adaptation, Volodimer or Volodimir (
Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ).[3] 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.[4]
Three successors of Vladimir the Great shared his given name:
Vladimir II Monomakh (1053–1125),
Vladimir III Mstislavich (1132–1173) and
Vladimir IV Rurikovich (1187–1239). The town
Volodymyr in north-western Ukraine was founded by Vladimir and is named after him.[5] 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.[6] 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 (Old Bulgarian) 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.[citation needed]
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 polnoglasie "-olo-" of Old East Slavic form Volodiměr (Володимѣръ) persists in the
Ukrainian form Volodymyr (Володимир), borrowed into
SlovakVolodymýr.
In Russian,
shortened and endeared versions of the name are Volodya (and variants with
diminutive suffixes: Volod'ka, Volodyen'ka, etc.), Vova (and diminutives: Vovka,
Vovochka, etc.), 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.[citation needed]
The Greek form is Vladimiros (Βλαδίμηρος). 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.
Vladimir Sukhomlinov (1848–1926) Russian general of the Imperial Russian Army who served as the Chief of the General Staff from 1908 to 1909 and the Minister of War from 1909 to 1915
Vladimir Kvachkov, Russian former
Spetsnaz colonel and military intelligence officer, known for being arrested and charged for the attempted assassination
Vladimir Pozner Sr. (1908-1975), Russian-Jewish émigré to the United States who spied for Soviet intelligence while employed by the US government
Vladimir Komarov (1927–1967), Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut, commander of
Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member, solo pilot of
Soyuz 1 and the first human to die in a space flight
Vladimir Dedijer, Yugoslav partisan fighter during World War II who became known as a politician, human rights activist, and historian, representative of
Yugoslavia at the
United Nations
Vladimir Korolenko, Ukrainian-born Russian writer, journalist, human rights activist and humanitarian of Ukrainian and Polish origin
Vladimir Makei, Belarusian politician who has served as the minister of foreign affairs of Belarus since 2012
Vladimir Medinsky (born 1970), Russian political figure, academic and publicist who served as the Minister of Culture of Russia from May 2012 to January 2020
^Litvina, A. (2006). Выбор имени у русских князей в X—XVI вв. Династическая история сквозь призму антропонимики. Moscow: Indrik. p. 904.
ISBN5-85759-339-5.
^Henryk Paszkiewicz. The making of the Russian nation. Greenwood Press. 1977. Cracow 1996, pp. 77–79.
^С. В. Шевченко (ред.).
К вопросу о дате основания г. Владимира, ТОО "Местное время", 1992. (S. V. Shevchenko (ed.). On the foundation date of Vladimir. in Russian)
Look up Vladimir in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.