Boris - Meaning of Boris

What does Boris mean?

[ 2 syll. bo-ris, bor-is ] The baby boy name Boris is pronounced BOWR-ihS (English, German), or Baa-RIYS (Russian) †.

1: Boris has its origins in the Slavonic language. It is used largely in the English, German, Russian, and Slavic languages. The name is often taken to be from the short form of Borislav and thus of the element boru (meaning 'fight, battle'). It is more likely of Tartar origin, from the nickname Bogoris. The name has been borne by three Bulgarian rulers, including the 9th-century King Boris I, who converted his kingdom to Christianity. Saint Boris was a 10th-century Russian saint and prince who was murdered along with his brother Gleb; their festival is still being observed in Russia. Boris Godunov was a 16th-century Russian tsar and son-in-law of Ivan the Terrible; he became the subject of Alexander Pushkin's play (1831) and Mussorgsky's opera (1872) bearing his name. The name has long been popular in Russia and Hungary. Among English speakers, it has been made known by Boris Karloff (1887-1969), the horror film actor best known for his role as the monster in the film Frankenstein (1931).

Derivatives of Boris include the name Boras, the name Bore, the name Bores, the name Boriss, the Russian Borís, the name Borrys, the Slavic Borut, the name Boryenka, and the name Boryss.

2: Boris's origin is Tartar. Here, it means small. An original form of Boris is Bogoris (Tartar).

Boris is a contraction (German, Russian, and Slavic) of the Russian and Slavic Borislav.

See also the related categories, rulers (king), slavic, english, son (heir), brother, battle (war), element, russian, actor, kingdom, german, opera, and bulgarian.

Boris is unusual as a baby name for boys. Its usage peaked modestly in 1923 with 0.004% of baby boys being given the name Boris. Its ranking then was #963. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity, and is today used on an infrequent scale. Among all boy names in its group, Boris was nonetheless the most regularly used in 2018.

Baby names that sound like Boris include Barack, Barak, Barec, Bareck, Barek, Baris, Barke, Barkha, Barrac, Barrack, Barrak, Barric, Barrick, Barrik, Barryc, Barryck, Barryk, Baruch, Baruj, and Barwick.

† Pronunciation for Boris: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; OW as in "oak (OW.K)" ; R as in "race (R.EY.S)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)"

Details of famous persons named Boris:
Actor Boris Karloff, born William Henry Pratt, 23 November 1887 - 2 February 1969, Camberwell, London, England.
Poet Boris Pasternak, born February 10 1890 - May 30, 1960, Moscow, Russia.
Politician Boris Yeltsin, born 1 February 1931 - 23 April 2007, Butka, Sverdlovsk Region, Russia.
Politician Boris Johnson, born 19 June 1964, New York City, New York.
Tennis Player Boris Becker, born Boris Franz Becker, 22 November 1967, Leimen, West Germany.

More about famous people named Boris: