Just don't call me "Boyko"

There are several theories about the origin of the name Boyko. One of them says that the name of the Bieszczady shepherds comes from the Wallachian word "bou" or ox, or from the old Polish: "rocker", "bojak", "bojek", also referring to the ox. The term "Boyko" could also have a pejorative, offensive meaning. This hypothesis is convincing on the grounds that the name was offensive to the Boyko themselves. Hence the name Boykos meant an ox-keeper, a shepherd of oxen. According to Marianna Jara, the name Bojko may derive from the expression "Bohojko!", Often used by the inhabitants of the Bieszczady Mountains. The cry was a turn to God (in Polish: "Oh God!"). Often pronounced, it could come into use as a proper name of the group (analogous to "lem" - - "Lemki’’. The very name "Boyko" had a nickname character for the population so described. The Boykos considered this name insulting and called themselves Verkhovynets, i.e. people of the mountains (some sources say that they also called themselves Ruthenians, the Ruthenian People, the People of Ruthenian Faith, Hyrniaks). Although this community was outraged when it was called Boyki, in the nineteenth century, under the influence of ethnographic studies, this name became officially binding.