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Boy · Bulgar, probably Turkic
Boris
Say it: bah-REES
Meaning
Probably from a Turkic Bulgar name (Bogoris); its link with Slavic borisŭ 'fighter' is a later folk explanation.
Disputedsharp disagreement, or a popular meaning that is not supported.
Through the Bulgarian ruler baptised in 864 and the martyred Rus prince Boris, it became a standard Orthodox name.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 4,437 babies given this name since 1911
- At its height in 1970, about 1 in 23,000 boys
- 50 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Борис
| Ukrainian | Borys |
|---|---|
| Polish | Borys |
| Czech | Boris |
| Bulgarian | Boris |
| Serbian | Boris |
Famous bearers
- Boris I of Bulgaria, who Christianised the Bulgarians
- Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia
- Boris Pasternak, writer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Medieval Slavic chronicles and charters
- Royal and noble genealogies
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.