The name Boleslawiec is a patronymic name derived from the Slavic name Boleslaw, composed of two parts of the old Polish, currently unused term bole(j) meaning very and sław meaning fame. This name literally means «very famous» and was given to the city in honor of the founder Boleslaw I the Tall, who founded the city around 1190, granting it numerous privileges. In his list of place names in Silesia, published in Wroclaw in 1888, Heinrich Adamy mentions the name of the city recorded in a document from 1196 — Boleslawez, giving its meaning Stadt des Boleslaw I.