Bulgarian Names Guide

General Name Discussion
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Background
Bulgarian is a [name_u]South[/name_u] Slavic language most closely related to Macedonian and Serbian spoken in the Balkans nation of Bulgaria by some eight million people. The nation traditionally spoke a Turkic language when the Bulgars were in charge, but the Slavs later moved in. More Turkic influence came along when the Ottoman Empire took over. It’s the language I’ve been learning the past month, and I’d like to share information about Bulgarian and its names.

Name Origins
Bulgarian names tend to come from Slavic roots (Dobroslav, Boyka, Fania), be translations of Greek names (Aleksandar, Kaloyan, Konstantin), Hebrew names (Ana, [name_f]Elisaveta[/name_f], Natanail), Latin names (Marina, [name_f]Valentina[/name_f], Diana), or remnants from Turkic occupation (Asen, Chavdar, Ahmet).

Popular Bulgarian Names
It’s hard to find data on popular names in Bulgaria, but from what I could find, these are some of the most popular names in the country.

Boys: [name_u]Georgi[/name_u], [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], [name_m]Dimitar[/name_m], [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m], [name_m]Petar[/name_m], Hristo, Aleksandar, [name_m]Stefan[/name_m], Yordan, [name_m]Vasil[/name_m]
Girls: [name_u]Maria[/name_u], [name_f]Ivanka[/name_f], [name_f]Elena[/name_f], Yordanka, Penka, [name_f]Daniela[/name_f], Rositsa, Desislava, [name_u]Petya[/name_u], Mariika

[name_u]Unique[/name_u] Bulgarian Names
These are some names with unique meanings, many of which would make a good fit on NB.

Boys
[name_m]Rumen[/name_m] (roo-mehn) - Boy with rosy cheeks
Tase (tah-seh) - Immortal one
Veselin (veh-sehl-een) - [name_f]Cheerful[/name_f] and happy soul
[name_f]Zahari[/name_f] (za-hhar-ee) - God has remembered
Zhelyazko (zh-elya-zo)
Krasimir (krah-see-meer) - [name_f]Beautiful[/name_f] peace
Lyuben (ly-oo-behn) - [name_f]Lovely[/name_f]

Girls
Iglika (ee-gl-ee-kah) - [name_f]Primrose[/name_f]
[name_f]Kalina[/name_f] (kah-lee-nah) - [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] tree
Evdokiya (ehv-doh-kee-yah) - Good glory
Aneliya (ahn-el-ee-yah) - [name_u]Angel[/name_u]
[name_f]Galya[/name_f] (gah-lyah) - [name_f]Serenity[/name_f]
[name_f]Lyudmila[/name_f] (ly-ood-mee-lah) - [name_u]Love[/name_u] for the people
Rositsa (roh-see-tsah) - Dew on a rose

Disclaimer: Some of these sounds do not exist in [name_f]English[/name_f], so these pronunciations aren’t 100%. If you can read IPA and would like to know the exact sounds, let me know, I can inform you of them.

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Thank you for putting this together! I love learning about names from different places.

Of the popular names, I really like [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m], Aleksandar, Yordan, [name_m]Vasil[/name_m], [name_u]Maria[/name_u], [name_f]Elena[/name_f], [name_f]Daniela[/name_f], and Rositsa! Of the unique ones, [name_f]Zahari[/name_f] really stands out to me :star_struck: . I also love [name_f]Kalina[/name_f], which I’ve had on my list for a while!

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This is great! [name_u]Ever[/name_u] since I made my Yoruba post, I’ve been looking forward to seeing if anyone else does anything similar with another culture.

Some of my favourites are definitely Lyuben, Zhelyazko, [name_m]Kalin[/name_m], Evdokiya, Rositsa, Mariika, [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m], and [name_u]Maria[/name_u].

So many good ones!

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Thank you for compiling these, [name_m]Eric[/name_m]! I love [name_f]Fania[/name_f], [name_u]Konstantin[/name_u], [name_f]Ana[/name_f], [name_m]Ahmet[/name_m], Aleksandar, [name_m]Vasil[/name_m], [name_u]Maria[/name_u], Rositsa, Tase (a variation of my favorite name!) Zhelyazko, and [name_f]Lyudmila[/name_f].

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Thank you for putting this together!! I find myself particularly taken with [name_m]Rumen[/name_m] — and what a sweet meaning!

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