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I can only speak of what it might be like where I live (US). It would be less than totally usable for someone in my demographic IMO, because it sounds like Voldemort and because it just seems to have sort of a severe old fashioned style. (I personally don't think it sounds like Vladimir, nor do I think the association with Putin would ruin Vladimir esp. considering it's such a frequent Russian name) But I think if someone from another country or culture bore it here - it was actually the name of a person, and not just a name to give opinions on - nobody where I live would react. Americans might not particularly like it, for reasons such as mine or your friend's. For whatever it's worth, there's a Vladimir (or maybe two?) at my kids' school and of course they are Russian and it's no problem. A Valdemar whose parents weren't American would also have no problem. I don't feel like I myself could use Vladimir, nor Valdemar, without getting negative inital reactions. But even so, people would get used to it. It's not bad, and anyway he could be called Val which seems kind of cool.

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- mirfak