Boris (given name)

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Boris
TzarBorisDidacticGospelConstantinePreslavski.jpg
Boris I of Bulgaria
GenderMale
Origin
Word/name Bulgar, Bulgarian
MeaningWolf, Short, Snow Leopard, Famous Battle (Borislav) or Fame-Bright (Robert)
Region of origin First Bulgarian Empire
Other names
Related namesBob, Bobby (nicknames)

Boris, Borys or Barys (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian : Борис; Belarusian : Барыс) is a male name of Bulgar origin. [1] It is most commonly used in countries in Eastern Europe. [a] It is also used in Greece and countries that speak Germanic, Baltic and Romance languages. The spelling variant Borys is more common in Poland.

Contents

Early history

Early records of the name Boris are related to a ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, Knyaz Boris I (r. 852–889). The name likely reached the Rus in the late 10th century, during the reign of Boris II of Bulgaria (r. 969–977), great-grandson of 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 Bulgarian noblewoman, who is assumed to be a daughter of Peter I (i.e., sister of Boris II). [2] [3] [4]

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. [5] Also, with the adoption of the Byzantine calendar and the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, the cult of St. Boris entered the Rus' Orthodox Church. [6] 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. [7]

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, Borysenko (or Borisenko), Borysenkov  [ ru ] (or Borisenkov), Borisik  [ ru ], Borysiuk (or Borisiuk), Borisikhin, Boriskin  [ ru ], Borisko  [ ru ], Borisovsky, Borysovych (or Borisovich), Borysiak  [ ru ] (or Borisiak).

A number of Jews in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union with the given names Baruch or 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 (Shlomo Zalman-Dov[ citation needed ] 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", [8] "Baruch Yeltzer", [9] or "Baruch Elkin". [10]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ These countries include: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia.

References

  1. ↑ "Васил Н. Златарски.История на Първото българско царство. Междудържавното положение на България и покръщането на българите". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  2. ↑ Околосветското пътешествие на името Борис [The Around the World Journey of the Name Boris]. OMDA | Wonderland Bulgaria (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Материалы русской истории.Основные материалы для изучения русской истории.КИЕВСКИЙ КНЯЗЬ ЯРОСЛАВ ВЛАДИМИРОВИЧ.
  4. ↑ Киевская Русь и ее южные соседи. Киевская Русь и Болгария. Archived May 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ ПОКРЪСТВАНЕТО НА КИЕВСКА РУС И БЪЛГАРИТЕ, д-р Горан Благоев, БНТ.
  6. ↑ Святой благоверный и равноапостольный царь Борис Болгарский.
  7. ↑ "Princes Boris and Gleb: Proto-martyrs and Passion-Bearers of Old Russia". Orthodox America. Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society. 2006. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
  8. ↑ Oskolkov, Petr; Lissitsa, Sabina; Lewin, Eyal (April 2025). "'The non‐dormant beast': Antisemitism in communities of Russian nationalists on Vkontakte". Nations and Nationalism. 31 (2): 361–377. doi:10.1111/nana.13013.
  9. ↑ Behr, Rafael (5 April 2017). "Fear, prejudice and gut reactions: Is that the future for our politics?". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ Shafir, Michael (2003). "Varieties of Antisemitism in Post-Communist East Central Europe: Motivations and Political Discourse". Jewish Studies at the Central European University 2002–2003 (PDF). CEU Jewish Studies Yearbook. Central European University Press. pp. 175–210. (Online bibliographical record; includes another download link.)
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