# Wenceslaus (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/wenceslaus/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “greater”, “more”, “fame”, “glory” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Wenceslas |
| US babies named this | 61 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 61 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

From Latin Wenceslaus, a Latinization of Old Czech Vácslav, from Proto-Slavic *Vęťeslavъ (from *vęťьjь (“greater, more”) + *slava (“fame, glory”)). Doublet of Vyacheslav.

## What it means

Wenceslaus is grouped under famous.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 6 | 3,816 |
| 1917 | 6 | 3,961 |
| 1918 | 6 | 4,158 |
| 1919 | 6 | 4,148 |
| 1921 | 5 | 4,955 |
| 1922 | 6 | 4,295 |
| 1925 | 5 | 4,843 |
| 1928 | 11 | 2,649 |
| 1930 | 5 | 4,527 |
| 1939 | 5 | 3,951 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Вацлав
- Czech: Václav, Věnceslav
- Esperanto: Venceslao
- French: Venceslas
- German: Wenzel, Wenzeslaus
- Hungarian: Vencel
- Italian: Venceslao
- Japanese: ヴァーツラフ
- Polish: Wacław
- Portuguese: Venceslau, Wenceslau
- Russian: Вячесла́в
- Slovak: Václav
- Spanish: Wenceslao, Venceslao
- Ukrainian: В'ячесла́в, Венцесла́в

## People named Wenceslaus

- Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech cartographer, painter of nature, portrait painter and engraver (1607-1677)
- Klemens von Metternich, Austrian diplomat, foreign minister and Chancellor (1773–1859)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.