Name «Bilosh»

The name Bilosh has Slavic roots and is mentioned several times in Moldavian documents from the 15th century. For example, in 1425, a document refers to "Beloyeva zapodiya" (SSUMI 92), and in 1495 – "our servants Negoulou Doumi and his brother Bilosh" – in the city of Vaslui (SSUM I 134). The name Bilosh was given to boys who had white hair or skin.Among the evidence that the name in Moldavian acts was associated with the color white is the fact that the name of the same cupbearer Bilosh was sometimes translated with the Moldavian adjectival name Alb. Most entries of the mentioned cupbearer's name in the documents were written not with the root letter Ѣ but with the letter ъ, thus as Băloș (SSUM I134).The name is formed from the adjectival root *bel- 'white' with the substantivizing suffix -osh, similar to Serbian and Croatian names Bilosh, Miloš, Radoš. In Serbia, a patronymic derived from this name is also attested: Bilošević, and the toponym Biloševac.Jan Svoboda, supported by Jana Pleskalova, believes that the root of the name Bilosh was the noun Belobog.