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).

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.

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]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[7] 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.

• All pages with titles beginning with Vladimir
• Slavic names
• Waldemar (disambiguation)
• Walter (name)
• Vladislav