Explore the Family Name Boris
The meaning of Boris
1. Slovak: from the personal name Boris, which is often taken as a shortening of the Slavic personal name Borislav, composed of the elements bor ‘to fight’ (from Old Slavic boriti se) + slav ‘glory’ or ‘famous’ (from Old Slavic slava ‘glory’), but more probably it is an altered form of the Old Bulgarian personal name Bogoris (a byname from Turkic bogori ‘small’), borne by the king of the Bulgars (sometimes known as Boris) who was converted to Christianity in 864. The name Boris was later also borne by a Russian prince, murdered in 1015, whose baptismal name was Roman and who is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church. 2. Altered form of Polish, Ukrainian, and Rusyn Borys, a cognate of 1 above. 3. Slovak (Boriš): from a short form of any of various Slavic compound personal names, containing the element bor ‘to fight’, e.g. Borislav (see 1 above). The homonymous Sorbian cognates, Boriš (Upper Sorbian) and Bóriš (Lower Sorbian), are found in Germanized and Americanized forms, only (see Borisch and Borish). 4. Hungarian: from Boris, a pet form of the female personal name Borbála or, in some cases, possibly from the male personal name Barabás.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Boris in the United States?
The surname Boris experienced some fluctuations in popularity based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Boris was ranked 11,158th in popularity and by 2010, it had slightly decreased to 11,348th, a modest change of -1.7%. However, the overall count of people with this surname increased from 2,608 to 2,780 between 2000 and 2010, showing an increase of 6.6%. The proportion per 100k people also slightly decreased from 0.97 to 0.94 during this period, a drop of -3.09%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #11,158 | #11,348 | -1.7% |
| Count | 2,608 | 2,780 | 6.6% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.97 | 0.94 | -3.09% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Boris
The ethnic identity associated with the surname Boris has also seen some changes according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In both 2000 and 2010, there were no reported instances of the surname among Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native communities. Conversely, the number of individuals identifying as two or more races and having the surname Boris increased by 24.30% from 1.07% to 1.33%. Those identifying as White saw a slight decrease from 92.56% to 91.62%. Hispanic individuals with the surname rose slightly from 3.45% to 3.53%, while those identifying as Black saw an increase from 1.92% to 2.34%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 92.56% | 91.62% | -1.02% |
| Hispanic | 3.45% | 3.53% | 2.32% |
| Black | 1.92% | 2.34% | 21.87% |
| Two or More Races | 1.07% | 1.33% | 24.3% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |