Bor

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Beer in US United States, ZA South Africa, GB United Kingdom and 7 more, Bir in SY Syria, DZ Algeria, MA Morocco and 1 more, Baru in ID Indonesia, VN Vietnam and Bari in IN India.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bor is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Dutch surname12K records spelled Bor112 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Germany, Australia

  Languages: Dutch, English, Western Frisian

  Also written Boer, Boor, Böer, Boeer, Pur

• a separate name4.0K records spelled Bor3 spellings in the group

  Also written Bór, Bör

• Hungarian surname3.9K records spelled Bor6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary

  Also written Bőr, Bôr, ́bor, Bór, Bör

• French name3.2K records spelled Bor6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France

  Also written Bör, Bôr, ́bor, Bõr, Bór

• Portuguese name2.9K records spelled Bor8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Mexico

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Bõř, Bör, Bőr, Bớṟ, Bôr

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bor is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Turkish, 1. İşlenmemiş, ekilmemiş toprak. 2. Fr. Doğada bor asidi veya boratlar durumunda bulunan bir element.

  as a word·TDK Kişi Adları Sözlüğü (official Turkish given-name dictionary)

• In Romanian, 05<magh. bcros chelar" si ametit de yin". 1.- loan (BM III) ; frecv. in Ardeal si Moldova din sec. al XV-lea (BA ung 18). 2. Borosdscul = Boru§escul, 1725 (I0 90).

  as a name·Dictionar Onomastic Rominesc

• In cdo, GPOrPreor Corr Coro errIroe gonorrhoea, gleet. plain water, vs., tea. insipid, tasteless. to boil it without seasoning. the white race, Caucasian. the Chinese cabbage, Prassica

  as a word·Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect

• In Akan, bor, F. = bore, bore, boro. abor a , p^ m-, a European or mulatto-woman, s. ab6rowA

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In Hungarian, wine

  as a word·Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

SI SURS — Najpogostejša imena in priimki (population register) — 33 years between 1992–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Norman Loftus Borb. 1893IEIrish botanist (1893-1972)
• Matej Borb. 1913SISlovenian writer (1913–1993)
• Milan Borb. 1936DESound engineer
• Carl R. de Boorb. 1937USnot in their usual nameAmerican mathematician
• Jan Borb. 1946NLDutch philosopher and writer
• Hanuš Borb. 1950CZCzech actor
• Christiaan Borb. 1950NLDutch violinist
• Barna Borb. 1986HUHungarian judoka
• Hillary Borb. 1989KEKenyan born American steeplechaser
• Bor Pavlovčičb. 1998SISlovenian ski jumper

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 118 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bor?

We estimate roughly 65 thousand people bear Bor (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Bor have the most bearers?

Bor is most frequently recorded in Indonesia, where it is most often spelled baru.

How common is Bor compared with other names?

In South Africa, Bor is the 219th most common surname of 302,267 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Bor mean?

Recorded meaning: Slavic stem boru 'strife'; often also 'pine, conifer'