Boyan (given name)

Boyan (Bulgarian: Боян) is a Slavic male given name. The short form of the name Boyan used in Bulgaria is Bobi or Bobby (Bulgarian: Боби). Its female equivalent is Boyana (Bulgarian: Бояна).

Boyan
Pronunciation[bo'jan]
GenderMale
Origin
Language(s)Slavic
Word/nameboy "battle"
Derivationboy- (root) + an (suffix)
Other names
Related namesBojan

In present days it is used as a given name in Bulgaria written as Boyan (Bulgarian: Боян), and also in all countries of former Yugoslavia, mainly written as Bojan (Serbian and Macedonian: Бојан)/(Slovenian/Croatian: Bojan).

The name is recorded in historical sources among the Bulgarians, Serbs, Macedonians, Czechs, Poles, and Russians.[1]

Etymology

There is some discussion as to where the name Boyan comes from. It is generally accepted that it is derived from the word бой- (boy-), which means "battle", and the suffix -ан (-an) which is common in Bulgarian and Slavic names.[2][3] Together, Boyan (Боян) means "warrior" or "fighter".[2][3]

It is also considered as a possibility from the Turkic-Mongol word "Bayan" (Mongolian: Баян) meaning rich, wealth,[4][5] of the khagan of Avars Bayan I (562-602), and of the Bulgars Batbayan (665–668);[2][3] from the name of Bohemia, the area of modern Czech Republic, in Serbian as Bojka (White Serbia), where lived the Celtic tribe Boii;[2][3] from the Celtic Bryan or Brian which shares spelling and meaning similarity.[2] Therefore, according to the Celtic origin of the name Bryan or Brian, the Bulgarian and Slavic name Boyan or Bojan could have the meaning "strong" or "noble".[2][3]

Notable Boyans

Places

See also

References

  1. Miklosich, Franz (1860). Die Bildung der slavischen Personennamen (in German). Vienna: Aus der kaiserlich-königlichen Hoff- und Staatdruckerei. pp. 10, 36.
  2. "Holy Martyr Boyan, Bulgarian Prince" (in Bulgarian). Първите седем. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. "Днес почитаме Св. мъченик Боян–Енравота" (in Bulgarian). InfoPleven. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  4. Sevortyan, Ervand (1978), Этимологический словарь тюркских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Turkic Languages] (in Russian), 2, Moscow: Nauka, pp. 27–29
  5. Gluhak, Alemko (1993), Hrvatski etimološki rječnik (in Croatian), Zagreb: August Cesarec, pp. 123–124, ISBN 953-162-000-8
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