Boris, Borys or Barys ( Bulgarian,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Serbian, ; ) is a male name of Bulgar origin. It is most commonly used in countries in Eastern Europe. It is also used in Greece and countries that speak Germanic,

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

. The spelling variant '' Borys'' is more common in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Early history

Early records of the name ''Boris'' are related to a ruler of the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

, Knyaz Boris I (). The name likely reached the Rus in the late 10th century, during the reign of Boris II of Bulgaria (), great-grandson of Boris I. In 967, the Byzantines instigated the Rus to attack the

; it is probably around this

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from th ...

that the marriage was arranged of Vladimir I of Kiev to a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n noblewoman, who is assumed to be a daughter of Peter I (i.e., sister of Boris II). As evidenced by the Rus'

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

Boris and Gleb Boris and Gleb (), respective Christian names Roman () and David (), were the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus' after its Christianization. Their feast day is observed on July 24 (August 6 Gregorian calendar). History According to the tw ...

were sons of Vladimir I, born to him by the Bulgarian princess. During Vladimir's reign in 988, the conversion of the

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

to Christianity took place. In this conversion, both ordinary priests and prelates from

played a significant part. Also, with the adoption of the

Byzantine calendar The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World (, also or ; 'Roman year since the creation of the universe', abbreviated as ε.Κ.), was the calendar used by the Eastern Orth ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Passages of Holy Scripture, saints and events for commemoration are associated with each date, as are many times special rule ...

, the cult of St. Boris entered the Rus' Orthodox Church. In 1015, the princes Boris and Gleb were killed by their stepbrother

Sviatopolk I of Kiev Sviatopolk I Vladimirovich (also called ''Sviatopolk the Accursed'' or the ''Accursed Prince''; ; – 1019) was Prince of Turov from 988 to 1015 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 1015 to 1019. He earned his sobriquet after allegedly murdering his ...

, who usurped the throne. Within a short time, Boris and Gleb were revered as native soldier-saints among the

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

Derivations

Borys is a Ukrainian and Polish-language variant, and Barys is a Belarusian-language variant. The name gives rise to several

patronymic surnames A patronymic surname is a surname originated from the given name of the father or a patrilineal ancestor. Different cultures have different ways of producing patronymic surnames. In the Old Testament of the Bible, men are identified by their l ...

: Borisevich, Borysewicz, Barysevich, Borisevičius, Borisov, Borysenko (or Borisenko), (or Borisenkov), , Borysiuk (or Borisiuk), Borisikhin, , , Borisovsky, Borysovych (or Borisovich), (or Borisiak). A number of Jews in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

with the given names Baruch or Ber used the (unrelated) name "Boris" to avoid being targeted with

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

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 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 The international Jewish conspiracy or the world Jewish conspiracy is an antisemitic trope that has been described as "one of the most widespread and long-running conspiracy theories". Although it typically claims that a malevolent, usually gl ...

". This occurred, for example, to

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

, who was variously "revealed" to be "Baruch Eltzind", "Baruch Yeltzer", or "Baruch Elkin".
Online bibliographical record
includes another download link.)

Notes

References

{{reflist Masculine given names Slavic masculine given names East Slavic masculine given names Turkic masculine given names Bulgarian masculine given names Bosnian masculine given names Croatian masculine given names Czech masculine given names Macedonian masculine given names Montenegrin masculine given names Slovak masculine given names Slovene masculine given names Polish masculine given names Serbian masculine given names

Early history

Derivations

See also

Notes

References