History
Boris owes its worldwide usage to its adoption by the Rus' Slavs. It is known that the name of the Bulgarian saint reached the Rus in the late 10th century, likely during the reign of Boris II of Bulgaria (969-977), great-grandson of Boris I. In 967 the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas sent to the Rus ruler Sviatoslav I of Kiev his agent, with the task of talking Sviatoslav into assisting him in a war against the First Bulgarian Empire. In the Battle of Silistra, which occurred in the spring of 968 Sviatoslav defeated the Bulgarian ruler Peter I of Bulgaria and proceeded to occupy the whole of northern Bulgaria. In spite of some temporary successes and the reconciliation with Byzantium, Bulgaria faced a new invasion by Sviatoslav in 969. The Bulgarians were defeated again, and Peter I abdicated and become a monk. His successor Boris II was unable to stem the Rus advance, and found himself forced to accept Sviatoslav I of Kiev as his ally and puppet-master. Probably by this campaign his youngest son Vladimir I of Kiev found his Bulgarian wife, who is assumed to be a daughter of Peter I, i.e. sister of Boris II.
One of the sons of Vladimir I was given the name Boris. As evidenced by the Rus Primary Chronicle, Boris and Gleb were sons of Vladimir I, born to him by his Bulgarian wife. During Vladimir's reign in 988 the conversion of the Kievan Rus to Christianity took place. In this conversion both ordinary priests and prelates from Bulgaria played a significant part. Also, with the adoption of the Byzantine calendar and the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar the cult of St. Boris entered the Rus Orthodox Church. In 1015 the princes Boris and Gleb were killed by their stepbrother Sviatopolk I of Kiev, who usurped the throne. Within a short time Boris and Gleb were canonized and ever since they have been the native soldier-saints most revered among the Ukrainians, Russians and Byelorussians.
Read more about this topic: Boris (given Name)
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