{{Short description|none}} {{Distinguish|Borislav}} {{pp-pc1}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox given name | name = Boris | image=TzarBorisDidacticGospelConstantinePreslavski.jpg | caption=[[Boris I of Bulgaria]] | pronunciation= | gender = Male | meaning = Wolf, Short, Snow Leopard, Famous Battle (Borislav) or Fame-Bright (Robert) | region = [[First Bulgarian Empire]] | origin = [[Bulgar language|Bulgar]], [[Bulgarian name|Bulgarian]] | related names = Bob, Bobby (nicknames) | footnotes = }} '''Boris''', '''Borys''' or '''Barys''' ([[Bulgarian Language|Bulgarian]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], {{langx|uk|Борис}}; {{langx|be|Барыс}}) is a male name of [[Bulgar language|Bulgar]] origin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://promacedonia.com/vz1b/vz1b_3_1.html |title=Васил Н. Златарски.История на Първото българско царство. Междудържавното положение на България и покръщането на българите. |access-date=15 June 2008 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051231/http://promacedonia.com/vz1b/vz1b_3_1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is most commonly used in countries in Eastern Europe.{{efn|These countries include: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia.}} It is also used in Greece and countries that speak [[Germanic languages|Germanic]], [[Baltic languages|Baltic]] and [[Romance languages]]. The spelling variant ''[[Borys]]'' is more common in [[Poland]].

==Early history== Early records of the name ''Boris'' are related to a ruler of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]], Knyaz [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] ({{reign|852|889}}). The name likely reached [[Rus' people|the Rus]] in the late 10th century, during the reign of [[Boris II of Bulgaria]] ({{reign|969|977}}), great-grandson of [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]]. In 967, the Byzantines instigated the Rus to attack the [[First Bulgarian Empire]]; it is probably around this [[military campaign]] that the marriage was arranged of [[Vladimir I of Kiev]] to a [[Bulgaria]]n noblewoman, who is assumed to be a daughter of Peter I (i.e., sister of Boris II).<ref>{{Cite web |url =http://old.omda.bg/bulg/hystory/ime_boris.htm |language=bg |script-title=bg: Околосветското пътешествие на името Борис |access-date=2015-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115114642/http://old.omda.bg/bulg/hystory/ime_boris.htm |archive-date=2016-11-15 |trans-title=The Around the World Journey of the Name Boris |url-status=dead |website=OMDA {{!}} Wonderland Bulgaria }}</ref><ref>[http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/history/kostomar/kostom02.htm#1 Материалы русской истории.Основные материалы для изучения русской истории.КИЕВСКИЙ КНЯЗЬ ЯРОСЛАВ ВЛАДИМИРОВИЧ.]</ref><ref>[https://www.chronologia.org/tabov/tab-16.doc Киевская Русь и ее южные соседи. Киевская Русь и Болгария.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511151208/https://www.chronologia.org/tabov/tab-16.doc |date=May 11, 2012 }}</ref>

As evidenced by the Rus' [[Primary Chronicle]], [[Boris and Gleb]] were sons of Vladimir I, born to him by the Bulgarian princess. During Vladimir's reign in 988, the conversion of the [[Kievan Rus']] to Christianity took place. In this conversion, both ordinary priests and prelates from [[Bulgaria]] played a significant part.<ref>[http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Goran%20Blagoev%20-%20Pokraastvaneto%20na%20rusite.htm ПОКРЪСТВАНЕТО НА КИЕВСКА РУС И БЪЛГАРИТЕ, д-р Горан Благоев, БНТ.]</ref> Also, with the adoption of the [[Byzantine calendar]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar]], the cult of St. Boris entered the [[Rus' Orthodox Church]].<ref>[http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life6470.htm Святой благоверный и равноапостольный царь Борис Болгарский.]</ref> In 1015, the princes Boris and Gleb were killed by their stepbrother [[Sviatopolk I of Kiev]], who usurped the throne. Within a short time, Boris and Gleb were revered as native soldier-saints among the [[Ukrainians]], [[Russians]] and [[Belarusians]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.roca.org/OA/76-77/76s.htm# |title=Princes Boris and Gleb: Proto-martyrs and Passion-Bearers of Old Russia |access-date=2008-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007191902/http://www.roca.org/OA/76-77/76s.htm# |archive-date=2008-10-07 |url-status=dead |magazine=Orthodox America |publisher=Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society |date=2006}}</ref>

==Derivations== [[Borys]] is a Ukrainian and Polish-language variant, and [[Barys]] is a Belarusian-language variant.

The name gives rise to several [[patronymic surnames]]: [[Borisevich]], [[Borysewicz]], [[Barysevich]], [[Borisevičius]], [[Borisov (name)|Borisov]], [[Borysenko]] (or Borisenko), {{ill|Borysenkov|ru|Борисенков}} (or Borisenkov), {{ill|Borisik|ru|Борисик}}, [[Borysiuk]] (or Borisiuk), Borisikhin, {{ill|Boriskin|ru|Борискин}}, {{ill|Borisko|ru|Бориско}}, [[Borisovsky (disambiguation)|Borisovsky]], Borysovych (or Borisovich), {{ill|Borysiak|ru|Борисяк}} (or Borisiak).

A number of Jews in the [[Russian Empire]] and [[Soviet Union]] with the given names [[Baruch (given name)|Baruch]] or [[Ber (name)|Ber]] used the (unrelated) name "Boris" to avoid being targeted with [[antisemitism]] and, vice versa, upon immigration to Israel changed their name in the opposite direction. Some who did this were: [[Baruch Agadati]], [[Baruch Podolsky]], and [[Boris Schatz]] {{cn span|(Shlomo Zalman-Dov|date=June 2025|reason=This longer name form is not stated in the WP article, nor in its sources, AFAICS.}} Baruch Boris Schatz). Accordingly, antisemites using the "Jew-counting" slander, applied the name "Barukh" to a public person called "Boris", so alleging the person to be a Jew and associating him with the "[[international Jewish conspiracy]]". This occurred, for example, to [[Boris Yeltsin]], who was variously "revealed" to be "Baruch Eltzind",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oskolkov |first1=Petr |last2=Lissitsa |first2=Sabina |last3=Lewin |first3=Eyal |title='The non‐dormant beast': Antisemitism in communities of Russian nationalists on Vkontakte |journal=Nations and Nationalism |date=April 2025 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=361–377 |doi=10.1111/nana.13013|doi-access=free }}</ref> "Baruch Yeltzer",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Behr |first1=Rafael |title=Fear, prejudice and gut reactions: Is that the future for our politics? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/05/politics-antisemitism-gibraltar-brexit |work=The Guardian |date=5 April 2017}}</ref> or "Baruch Elkin".<ref>{{cite book|last=Shafir |first=Michael |date=2003 |chapter= Varieties of Antisemitism in Post-Communist East Central Europe: Motivations and Political Discourse |title= Jewish Studies at the Central European University 2002–2003 |publisher=Central European University Press |pages=175–210 |url= https://jewishstudies.ceu.edu/sites/jewishstudies.ceu.edu/files/attachment/basicpage/71/16shafir.pdf |series= CEU Jewish Studies Yearbook}} ([https://archive.jpr.org.uk/object-859 Online bibliographical record]; includes another download link.)</ref>

==See also== * [[List of people with given name Boris]]

==Notes== {{notelist}}

== References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Masculine given names]] [[Category:Slavic masculine given names]] [[Category:East Slavic masculine given names]]

[[Category:Turkic masculine given names]] [[Category:Bulgarian masculine given names]] [[Category:Bosnian masculine given names]] [[Category:Croatian masculine given names]] [[Category:Czech masculine given names]] [[Category:Macedonian masculine given names]] [[Category:Montenegrin masculine given names]] [[Category:Slovak masculine given names]] [[Category:Slovene masculine given names]] [[Category:Polish masculine given names]] [[Category:Serbian masculine given names]]