Vladimir
Vladimir the Great
PronunciationRussian: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr]
Serbo-Croatian: [ʋlǎdimiːr]
Gendermasculine
Origin
Word/nameSlavic
Meaning"of great power" (folk etymology: "ruler of the world", "ruler of peace") / "famous power", "bright and famous"
Other names
Alternative spellingCyrillic: Владимир, Влади́мир, Владиміръ, Владимѣръ
Variant form(s)Wladimir, Vladimer, Vlado, Vlade, Włodzimierz, Volodymyr, Vladimiro, Vladimír, Uladzimir, Valdis
Related namesfemale form Vladimira, Waldek, Waldemar, Valdemārs, Woldemar, Voldemārs, Voldemar, Valdimar, Baldomero, Vlas

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 knyaz 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 Bulgaria. Vladimir-Rasate was the second Bulgarian ruler following the Christianization of Bulgaria and the introduction of Old Bulgarian 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 early occurrence of the name in the East Slavic culture comes with Volodimer Sviatoslavich (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, "Vladimir the Great"), first Grand Prince of Kiev (r. 980–1015). According to historian Donald Ostrowski, Russians tend to prefer "Vladimir", while Ukrainians tend to prefer "Volodimer". However, "Volodimir" (similar to "Volodymyr") tends to occur as much in the primary sources as "Volodimer", and significantly more often than "Vladimir".[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.

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 (Владимир) 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 Volodiměr (Володимѣръ) persists in the Ukrainian form Volodymyr (Володимир), borrowed into Slovak Volodymýr.

Historical diminutive forms: Vladimirko (Russian), Volodymyrko (Ukrainian).

In Belarusian the name is spelled Uladzimir (Uładzimir, Уладзімір) or Uladzimier (Uładzimier, Уладзімер).

In Polish, the name is spelled Włodzimierz.

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.

The Germanic form, Waldemar or Woldemar, is sometimes traced to Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182) named after his Russian maternal grandfather, Vladimir II Monomakh.[6] The Germanic name is reflected in Latvian Voldemārs and Finnic (Finnish and Estonian) Voldemar.

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.

People with the name

Royalty

Religious figures

Presidents and prime ministers

Military leaders

Intelligence officers

Cosmonauts

Musicians

Actors and TV hosts

Politicians

Literary figures

Scientists

Artists

Businessmen

Sportsmen

Others

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Vladimir". Behind the Name. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Max Vasmer, Etymological Dictionary of Russian Language s.v. "Владимир" (starling.rinet.ru, vasmer.narod.ru)
  3. ↑ Ostrowski, Donald (2018). Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe, 900-1400. Christian Raffensperger. Abingdon, Oxon. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-315-20417-8. OCLC 994543451.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ Henryk Paszkiewicz. The making of the Russian nation. Greenwood Press. 1977. Cracow 1996, pp. 77–79.
  5. ↑ 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)
  6. ↑ Ф.Б. Успенский, "ИМЯ И ВЛАСТЬ (Выбор имени как инструмент династической борьбы в средневековой Скандинавии)", In: Фольклор и постфольклор: структура, типология, семиотика ("Folklore and Post-Folklore: Structure, Typology and Semiotics")
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