Given name & surname
Radek
“happy”
Radek is a masculine given name. It is used in Polish, Czech, and Slovak.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Slavic.
How it developed
Radek is a short form of Radoslav.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2003. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Radek through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 182
- 182 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2009
- 17 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,424 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- 0%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,424 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 17 in 2009. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 386 as a first name in 2020; 310 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.
Radek’s family of names
Radek is a short form of Radoslav. In Czech usage, Radek has a feminine form in RADKA. Radek has a related form in Radan.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Radoslavfull form · Czech
- Raddeklikely variant
- Radosławfull form · Polish
- Radomiłfull form · Polish
- Ráďadiminutive · Czech
- Radečekdiminutive · Czech
- Radeckvariant
- Radecvariant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 6
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Radek
- Radek ŠtěpánekCzech tennis playerborn 1978
- Radek ČernýCzech footballerborn 1974
- Radek BejblCzech soccer player and soccer representantborn 1972
- Radek FaksaCzech ice hockey playerborn 1994
- Radek DvořákCzech ice hockey playerborn 1977
- Radek ŠírlCzech soccer player and agentborn 1981
- Radek DrulákCzech footballerborn 1962
- Radek BonkCzech ice hockey playerborn 1976
- Radek JuškaCzech long jumperborn 1993
Characters named Radek: Radek Zelenka (fictional character of a scientist in the television series Stargate Atlantis).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Radek, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Andrik
“manly; a warrior”
>99% boys
Jarek
“born during the spring”
>99% boys
Vladislav
“one who rules with glory”
>99% boys
Ziven
“one who is vigorous; full of life”
>99% boys
Janko
“God is gracious”
>99% boys
Darko
“a manly man”
>99% boys
Borna
Borna is a masculine given name from Slavic. It is used in English and Serbo-Croatian.
>99% boys
Simion
Simion is a masculine given name from Old Church Slavonic, ultimately from Hebrew. It is used in Romanian.
>99% boys