Hearing the name Vladimir, most people associate it with one of two individuals – Vlad the Impaler or Vladimir Putin – both of whom have been given a polarising reputation.
Regardless of your personal feelings for either, whether talking about the former in the mid-1400s or the latter in the present day, almost everyone would know who you are referring to simply by use of the first name. And when a name can inspire such strong feelings, then perhaps it is time we examined what it really means.
Naturally, given its prevalence in Eastern Europe and Russia, the name Vladimir originates from the Old Slavic and Church Slavic languages. Coming from forms of the words vladeti (rule, control) and meru, the meaning behind the name can be translated to mean a number of things, from the generalised ‘regal’ to ‘one with peace on his side’ to even something as majestic as ‘world ruler,’ depending on which Slavic language is being used as well as which characters are used to spell the end of the word (the mir). For example, due to spelling reforms within the last century, mir can be translated as миръ (peace), мiръ (the universe), or мѣръ (great), which is an adaptation of a Gothic suffix.
Regardless of how you spell it, Vladimirs, at least in the meaning of their name, are definitely important people. The first recorded notable Vladimir – was Vladimir of Bulgaria, who ruled the First Bulgarian Empire in the late 800s, and the name is also that of an 11th century saint and ruler, Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great, who Christianised Kievan Rus.
Interestingly, as far as usage in English, while the Ruthenian spelling Wolodimer was the preferred one, due to geographic proximity and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as their might waned and Russia emerged to become a major power over the last 200 years, the spelling “Vladimir” has now become prevalent.
And last but not least, when we compare the etymological origins of the names of one of the most famous modern world rules, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump (check the etymology of Donald here), we come to discover certain similarities.
