Borys
A Slavic name meaning "warrior" or "fighter". Around 21,000 Polish men carry it and it's still handed out at a steady pace, though its high point came in the 2010s: meeting one stays memorable.
Borys Pronunciation
Borys is pronounced BO-rihs (/ˈbɔrɨs/).
What Borys means
Where Borys comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Borys grows from Slavic soil, and its short meaning splits in two directions, "wolf" and "short," both traced to a Bulgar root. The Bulgar connection is not decorative. Boris I ruled Bulgaria in the ninth century and brought Christianity to his people, which carried the name westward and gave it a documented bearer long before it settled into Polish registers.
The Polish sense reads differently. Here Borys is glossed as wojownik, walczący, a fighter, one who does battle. That reading grew alongside the name rather than out of its first syllable, and it suits a word shaped by rulers and soldiers.
A variant sits close by: Barys, used in Belarusian. Set them side by side and the kinship is plain.
Picture the school register on the first day of term. The teacher reads Borys, and one head lifts. The name has never been common in Poland, which keeps it distinct on any class list, and it still arrives with that older sense of wolf and warrior behind it.
How many people are named Borys
1 in 1004 men in Poland is named Borys. 21,266 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #268 among male names.
Borys's popularity over time
491 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #109 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where Borys is most popular
Borys is most popular in West Pomeranian, 81% above the national average (355 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Greater Poland (+58%) and Pomeranian (+39%). It is least common in Lublin and Subcarpathian, 55% and 45% below average respectively.
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West Pomeranian355 boys born+81%
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Greater Poland792 boys born+58%
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Pomeranian475 boys born+39%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian347 boys born+36%
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Lubusz154 boys born+33%
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Silesian688 boys born+30%
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Lower Silesian372 boys born+2%
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Warmian-Masurian169 boys born+1%
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Łódź294 boys born0%
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Opole98 boys born−9%
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Podlaskie107 boys born−30%
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Masovian530 boys born−36%
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Świętokrzyskie83 boys born−36%
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Lesser Poland297 boys born−44%
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Subcarpathian155 boys born−45%
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Lublin107 boys born−55%
Borys as a middle name
Borys is a first name for 21,266 men in Poland and a middle name for another 2,838, an 88/12 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 153rd, between Klemens (2,885) and Tobiasz (2,727).
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151
3,037Marceli
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152
2,885Klemens
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1532,838Borys
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154
2,727Tobiasz
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155
2,673Albin
When Borys celebrates name day
Borys appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 10 August.