Of Slavic origin.
From the Slavic element “vladeti”, meaning “rule”,”regal” and “meru”, meaning “great”.
Other meanings of the name, such as “person of the people” or “the one with peace on his side”, derive by association with the Slavic word “mir”, meaning “peace”, “community”, “world”.
It was the name of the Grand Prince of Kiev, Vladimir Sviatoslavich, who was a paganist, who converted to Christianity and Christianized the Kievan Rus people.
Alternative forms of the name are: Vladimyr, Vladamir, Vladan, Volodya, Vlad, Volya.
Famous bearers are Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Vladimir Horowitz, Vladimir Nabokov, Vladimir Kramnik, Vladimir Stojkovic, Vladimir Volkov, Vladimir Radmanovic, Vladimir Guerrero, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Vladimir Ilyich “Lenin” Ulyanov.