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.
When Borys celebrates name day
Borys appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 10 August.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
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 parents choose Borys
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 Pomeranian
+81%1 in 238 babies
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Greater Poland
+58%1 in 272 babies
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Pomeranian
+39%1 in 310 babies
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Lublin
−55%1 in 960 babies
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Subcarpathian
−45%1 in 778 babies
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Lesser Poland
−44%1 in 764 babies
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West Pomeranian+81% 355 born1 in 238 babies+81%
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Greater Poland+58% 792 born1 in 272 babies+58%
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Pomeranian+39% 475 born1 in 310 babies+39%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+36% 347 born1 in 315 babies+36%
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Lubusz+33% 154 born1 in 322 babies+33%
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Silesian+30% 688 born1 in 331 babies+30%
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Lower Silesian+2% 372 born1 in 422 babies+2%
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Warmian-Masurian+1% 169 born1 in 425 babies+1%
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Łódź±0% 294 born1 in 431 babies±0%
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Opole−9% 98 born1 in 470 babies−9%
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Podlaskie−30% 107 born1 in 615 babies−30%
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Masovian−36% 530 born1 in 668 babies−36%
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Holy Cross−36% 83 born1 in 668 babies−36%
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Lesser Poland−44% 297 born1 in 764 babies−44%
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Subcarpathian−45% 155 born1 in 778 babies−45%
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Lublin−55% 107 born1 in 960 babies−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 Marceli3,037
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#152 Klemens2,885
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#153 Borys2,838
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#154 Tobiasz2,727
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#155 Albin2,673