1916 Boreas a rotation period between 3.4741 and 3.49 hours with a brightness variation between 0.25 and 0.35 magnitude (). In 1994, astronomer Tom Gehrels estimated "Boreas" to measure 3.5 kilometers in diameter, based on an assumed albedo of 0.15. The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.07 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.93. This minor planet is named after the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas, as the asteroid was discovered moving rapidly northward after passing the ascending node of its orbit. The official naming citation was
HMS Boreas (1757) 1763. Captain Richard Hughes took over command in April 1763, serving off North Foreland until 1766. Captain Constantine Phipps succeed him in 1767, and was himself replaced by Captain Digby Dent the following year. Both commanded "Boreas" in the Channel. "Boreas" was surveyed for a final time on 23 May 1770. She was sold a month later on 29 June for the sum of £280. HMS Boreas (1757) HMS "Boreas" was a 28-gun "Coventry"-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built in 1757, she was one of five frigates of the class built of fir rather than oak. "Boreas" saw