Given name & surname
Bohdan
“given by God”
Bohdan is a masculine given name. It is used in English, Polish, Czech, Old Czech, and 1 other language.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Bohdan goes back to Old Church Slavonic Bogdan, meaning “given by God.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1917. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Bohdan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 925
- 925 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1952
- 35 babies
- 2025
- 30
- #3,673 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −18%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 30 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,673 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 17.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 35 in 1952. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,823 as a first name in 2020; 157 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Bohdan’s family of names
In Czech usage, Bohdan has a diminutive in Bohdánek. Bohdan shares a linguistic root with Bogdan. In Czech usage, Bohdan has a conventional equivalent in the Russian form Богдан.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Bohdan has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Slavic roots to each of them.
4 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Bohdan
- Bohdan KhmelnytskyUkrainian military, political and statesman, Hetman of the Zaporizhzhya Army, head of Ukraine (1648–1657) during the Hetmanship1595–1657
- Bohdan StupkaSoviet and Ukrainian actor (1941–2012)
- Bohdan BondarenkoUkrainian high jumperborn 1989
- Bohdan ButkoUkrainian footballerborn 1991
- Bohdan ShustUkrainian footballer (born 1986)
- Bohdan MykhaylichenkoUkrainian footballerborn 1997
- Bohdan LepkyUkrainian writer1872–1941
- Bohdan PaczyńskiPolish astronomer (1940-2007)
- Bohdan Ihor AntonychUkrainian poet (1909–1937)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Bohdan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Jan
“God is gracious”
96% boys · 4% girls
Van
“resembling a butterfly” · “God is gracious”
95% boys · 5% girls
Boris
“a warrior; having battle glory”
>99% boys
Bogdán
“God” · “given”
>99% boys
Lew
“lion”
>99% boys
Bagan
Bagan is a surname from Proto-Slavic. It is used in Polish.
—
Boron
“to fight”
—
Tibor
“from the sacred place”
>99% boys