Boyan (given name)

For other uses, see Boyan.

Boyan

Pronunciation	[bo'jan]
Gender	Male
Origin
Language(s)	Slavic
Word/name	boy "battle"
Derivation	boy- (root) + an (suffix)
Other names
Related names	Bojan

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).

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, and also among Serbs, Czechs, Poles, Croats, Slovenians, Macedonians, Ukrainians 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 other Slavic names.[2][3] Together, Boyan (Боян) means "warrior" or "fighter".[2][3]

It is also considered as a possibility from the Mongolic 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 Slavic name Boyan or Bojan could have the meaning "strong" or "noble".[2][3]

Notable people

• Batbayan of Bulgaria, also known as Batboyan or simply Boyan. The first son of Bulgarian khan Kubrat.
• Boyan-Enravota, the first Bulgarian Christian martyr and the earliest Bulgarian saint
• Boyan (bard), Rus' bard from the 10th century
• Boyanka Angelova, Bulgarian gymnast
• Boyan Chowdhury, former lead guitarist of rock band The Zutons
• Boyan Gaytanov, Bulgarian footballer
• Boyan Iliev, Bulgarian football player
• Boyan Jovanovic, professor of economics at New York University
• Boyan Kotsev, Bulgarian cyclist
• Boyan Petkanchin, Bulgarian mathematician
• Boyan Peykov, Bulgarian footballer
• Boyan Radev, Bulgarian wrestler
• Boyan Slat (born 1994), Dutch inventor and entrepreneur
• Boyan Tabakov, Bulgarian football player
• Boyan Vodenitcharov, Bulgarian pianist and composer
• Boyan Yordanov, Bulgarian volleyball player

Places

• Boyana, neighbourhood of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia
• Boyana Church, medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church situated in the Boyana neighbourhood
• Boyana Glacier on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, which is named for Boyana neighbourhood.

See also

• All pages with titles containing Boyan
• Bojan
• Boyana (given name)
• Bulgarian name
• Serbian name
• Slavic names

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), vol. 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