Boris (first name)

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Boris
Given Name


St. Knyaz Boris I
Gender male
Meaning unclear
Region of Origin whole over the world
Origin Bulgarian, Slavic
Related names Borislav
Wikipedia articles All pages beginning with Boris
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Boris (Bulgarian, Russian: Борис) is a Slavic name, probably with Bulgarian roots,[1] common in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine and other countries. In recent generations it is on some occasions used also among English and German-speakers, even without any Slavic background. One version is that name is derived form the Slavic verb for "fight", or that name is an abbreviated form the name Borislav, which means, "one who fights for glory".[2] Thе second is less likely, because the name Borislav appeared latter then Boris.[3] Other variant is that this name comes from Bulgar language with some meanings according to the different interpretations: "wolf", "short" or "snow leopard".[4] Some authors, which supports the "Iranian theory" about the origin of the Bulgars derived "Bogoris" from Iranian word "bog" with meaning "godlike".[5]

Anyhow, the name Boris was registered for the first time in the case of the Bulgarian ruler Prince Boris I (852-889), who adopted Christianity in 864 and imposed it to his entire people. His name came to be known in Europe in relation to this particular act. Moreover, after his death in 907 he was proclaimed the first Bulgarian saint, and traces of his cult during this period can be found as far away as Ireland. However, Prince Boris was not a Slav. He came from a dynasty of a Bulgars, that was of Turkic ethnic origin. Among the Bulgars it was known in its two forms - Boris and Bogoris.[6][7]

In fact, the name Boris owes its worldwide career to its adoption by the Russian Slavs. It is known, that the cult of the Bulgarian saint reached the Russian in the late 10th century, very likely during the reign by Boris II of Bulgaria (969-977), great-grandson of Boris I. In 967 the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas sent to the Russian ruler Sviatoslav I of Kiev his agent, with the task of talking Sviatoslav into assisting him in a war against First Bulgarian Empire. In the Battle of Silistra, which occurred in the spring of 968 Sviatoslav defeated the Bulgarian ruler Peter I of Bulgaria and proceeded to occupy the whole of northern Bulgaria. In spite of some temporary successes and the reconciliation with Byzantium, Bulgaria faced a new invasion by Sviatoslav in 969. The Bulgarians were defeated again, and Peter I abdicated and become a monk. His successor Boris II was unable to stem the Russian advance, and found himself forced to accept Sviatoslav I of Kiev as his ally and puppet-master. Probably by this campaign his youngest son Vladimir I of Kiev find his Bulgarian woman, of whom, however is no other evidence, but only assumption, he was a daughter of Peter I, i.e. sister of Boris II.[8] As a matter of fact, this name was given to one of the sons of Vladimir I. As evidenced by Russian chronicles, Boris and Gleb were sons of Vladimir I, born to him by his Bulgarian woman. During Vladimir's reign in 988 the conversion of the Kievan Russia to Christianity took place. In this conversion both, ordinary priests and prelates from Bulgaria played a significant part.[9] 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 canonized and ever since they have been the native soldier-saints most revered among the Ukrainians, Russians and Byelorussians.[10]

From the lands of Kievan Russia the name Boris went over to the neighbouring countries. An example of this is the case of the Hungarian prince Boris Kalamanos (1112-1155), son of the Magyar king from his marriage with Euphtimia, daughter of the Kievan prince Vladimir II Monomakh. For a fairly long period of time men bearing the name Boris were found predominantly in the courts and among the nobility. But later the name became popular among all strata in the Russian Empire, respectively in Siberia and Alaska. So it reached gradually the two Americas and Australia. In the present day, one can meet a Boris even in Africa.


[edit] Notable people named Boris

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[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ THE TRIP OF THE NAME OF BORIS ROUND THE WORLD
  2. ^ http://imena.guru.ua/name/59/
  3. ^ http://litopys.org.ua/kostruba/gvl03.htm See entry for year 1152.
  4. ^ Проф. Веселин Бешевлиев (Издателство на Отечествения фронт, София 1981)
  5. ^ ВЪРХУ ИМЕНАТА И ПРОЗВИЩАТА НА РАННИТЕ БЪЛГАРСКИ ВЛАДЕТЕЛИ. ВЛИЯНИЕ НА ПРАБЪЛГАРИТЕ ВЪРХУ ИМЕННАТА СИСТЕМА НА СЛАВЯНИТЕ.
  6. ^ Boris - Name Meaning and Origin
  7. ^ The etymology and history of first names.
  8. ^ Киевская Русь и ее южные соседи. Киевская Русь и Болгария.
  9. ^ ПОКРЪСТВАНЕТО НА КИЕВСКА РУС И БЪЛГАРИТЕ, д-р Горан Благоев, БНТ.
  10. ^ Princes Boris and Gleb: Proto-martyrs and Passion-Bearers of Old Russia