History of Bulgarian surnames.

In Bulgarian culture, the concept of a surname as a hereditary family naming has appeared quite recently. A person, in addition to his personal name, was named after his father, his nickname or grandfather, for example, Ivan Petrov, son of Peter Kolev, grandson of Kolyo Kirilov. Story formation Bulgarian surnames begins at the end of the 19th century and is fully completed only in the middle of the last century.

Forms of formation of Bulgarian surnames.

Bulgarian surnames are similar in spelling to Russian ones, only they have an unstable accent and can change it. AT dictionary of Bulgarian surnames the vast majority of them end in -ov, -ev (Iskrov, Tashev, Vazov, Botev). Very few surnames were formed with the help of suffixes -ski, -chki, -shki. The origin of such Bulgarian surnames more ancient, and interpretation associated with the names of villages and cities or the nicknames of the first owners - Kliment Ohridski (from Ohrid), Dimcho Lesicherski (from the village of Lesicharska), Noncho Plyaka (Noncho the Wise), Mara Papazulya (Mara Popadya). However, surnames with such endings are not typical for the Bulgarian language. Alphabetical list of Bulgarian surnames proves the absolute advantage of the endings -ov, -ev.

Meanings of Bulgarian surnames.

As a rule, Bulgarian hereditary names were formed from Christian and Bulgarian names - Ivanov, Pavlov, Davidov, Bogomilov, Isaev, Warriors. Meaning some Bulgarian surnames has, at first glance, a completely non-Christian meaning - Khadzhigeorgiev, Khadzhipopov. It seems that their roots must be sought in Islam, where "hajj" means a pilgrimage to Mecca. In Bulgaria, which for a long time was under the yoke of the Turkish yoke, this prefix was added to the surname of a person who visited Jerusalem or other Christian shrines. A small part of Bulgarian surnames retains the features of nicknames or indicates the occupation of a person - Sakadzhiev (water carrier), Mechkov (bear), Kovachev (blacksmith).

Now in Bulgaria, a child is given a surname from several options - father or mother, a new one after the name of one of the grandfathers, the surnames of the parents are combined. In the last century, women almost always took their husband's surname upon marriage. They now prefer to add their spouse's last name to their maiden name with a hyphen. Declension of Bulgarian surnames in Russian should not cause difficulties. Male and female (with the endings -ova, -eva) change in cases according to the laws of Russian grammar.

Thanks to top of bulgarian surnames you can check which of them this moment are the most common and popular in Bulgaria.

The centuries-old traditions of any country are largely reflected in the names given by parents to children at birth. For example, many Bulgarian names have special meaning and show certain traits of the child. In addition, they may contain a wish for success, health or wealth for a person. Some of them have Slavic roots, others are Muslim. As in other countries, children in our time are called international names.

Origin and traditions

The most common names in Bulgaria are those of Slavic origin. They became most popular when the Orthodox faith was strengthened in these territories. Except them, names of other origins also became widespread:

• Turkish
• Greek
• latin;
• Jewish.

Around the middle of the 20th century, Western European and American names, often children began to be named after famous performers, actors or heroes of films and books.

However, compared to many other countries, many, especially Bulgarian, male names have been preserved unchanged. This is because the tradition of naming children after their ancestors is still alive in Bulgaria, and often a child could be named after a grandmother or grandfather, regardless of their gender. Names in the country are unique in that many of them have both male forms, as well as female. Among them:

• Zhivka-Zhivko;
• Kalin-Kalina;
• Todor-Todorka;
• Spaska.

Often names are chosen by church calendar. Then the child is called by the name of the saint on whose day he was born. And the name can mean one or another property. This is explained by the belief of the Bulgarians in the power of the word. In the names one can feel the influence of other cultures, in particular Turkish. Turkish origin have such names, how:

• Demir and Demira;
• Emine;
• Mustafa and other Muslim names.

In addition, there are a lot of gypsies in the country. For this reason, there are people here whose names are Gojo, Evsenia, Bakhtalo and not only. Some of them are really of gypsy origin, in other cases, parents named their children that way due to influence.

Features of female and male names

The country is unique in that people are named following centuries-old traditions, and there are also a large number of original traditional names. The variety of Bulgarian names for girls is amazing. Many of them have special meanings, such as this:

There are female traditional names of this country, which are considered male in Russia, and in short form. For example, Petya or Vanya. In Bulgaria, you can often meet girls whose names are Tsvetans, Ivanks, Tsvetkov, Yordanki, Zornitsy and not only.

Men's names also have their own characteristics. In particular, there are a large number of them that end in "glory" or "peace":

• Zlatoslav;
• Radimir;
• Lubomir;
• Zlatoslav.

No less popular are the more familiar names for Russians - Vladimir or Yaroslav. The original Bulgarian names can be called short forms which are often considered official. For example, Tosho (from the full Todor), Gogo (George), as well as Zhivko, Zlatko and not only.

Like female, Bulgarian boy names have their own meaning. In addition, often by the name of the boy it was possible to determine what his family was doing.

For example, the children of peasant farmers were most often called Dimitar or Georgie. But Philippi most often appeared in the families of riders or horse breeders. This name translates as "loving horses." It is possible that the ancestors of the singer Kirkorov were engaged in horses.

Among other meanings of male names:

In addition, common male names in Bulgaria are Angel or Apostle. It is worth noting that there are the most men in the world who have “Angel” written in their passports in Bulgaria. For this reason, many call Bulgaria "the land of angels".

Modern tendencies

According to the statistics of the Bulgarian National Institute, the number of names in the country is more than 67 thousand names. Moreover, if there are 29 thousand male names, then there are much more female names - 38 thousand, respectively.

Boys are most often called Ivans and Georges. 38 percent of the male population is called that way. And the most common woman's name in the country - Maria, if we consider such a form as Mariyka.

Other common names in the country include:

Today, one of the most popular names for newborn girls is Victoria, which can be called a trend towards globalization. But the boys are still mostly called Georges. And also in last years girls were often called double names in a foreign way, such as Anna Maria, Maria Margarita and others.

Surnames and patronymics

The concept of a surname as a family hereditary sign in Bulgaria appeared relatively recently compared to other European countries. Their history of formation began only to late XIX century.

In spelling, they do not differ from traditional Russian surnames, but, unlike them, they have a “floating” stress that can change. Like Russians, many Bulgarian female or male surnames end in -ev (Botev or Tashev) or -ov (Todorov, Vazov). A smaller number were formed by suffixes -shki, -ski or -chka, reminiscent of Polish. Their origin is ancient, they are associated with cities or villages of human origin. For example, Lesicherski (a native of the village of Lesicharska) or Ohridski (from the city of Ohrid).

Many surnames of people in Bulgaria are derived from names - both directly Bulgarian and Christian in general. For example, Pavlov, Isaev, Ivanov and others, some do not differ in any way from Russians.

There are also special surnames, which are also considered traditional Bulgarian, however, it may seem that they are of Muslim origin. These include the names Khadzhipopov, Khadzhigeorgiev and others with a similar prefix. The word "hajj" Muslim world interpreted as a pilgrimage to Mecca. In Bulgaria, the owners of such surnames may not be hereditary Muslims, but their ancestors during the time of Turkish oppression were called that when they traveled to Jerusalem or visited other holy places, and not necessarily Muslim ones.

There are surnames that indicate nicknames or activities. For example, the surname Kovachev comes from the word "blacksmith" and is an analogue of the Russian surname Kuznetsov or the Ukrainian surname Kovalev (or Koval).

Currently, newborns in Bulgaria are given the choice of the surname of the father or mother, or they assign a new one after the name of his grandfather, or they combine the surnames of their parents. Previously, in most cases, after the wedding, women took the surname of their husbands, but now they mainly switch to a double one.

There are also Bulgarian patronymics. They differ from Russians in the absence of the characteristic ending “vich” or “vna” and are more reminiscent of surnames. For example, if a woman's name is Ivanka Stoyanova, and her father's name is Todor, then her full name will sound like Ivanka Todorova Stoyanova. If a person has the surname Ivanov, and his father's name is Ivan, then the surname and patronymic will look the same in the letter, but differ in stress. In the patronymic it will be on the first syllable, and in the surname - on the second, respectively.

Unlike other Slavic countries, Bulgaria has preserved a large number of old Slavic names forgotten in Russia, which are distinguished by their euphony and have their own meaning. The traditions that continue to be honored in the country have largely contributed. Although, despite this, the fashion for international names is still growing. Whether they will be able to supplant traditional ones is still too early to say.

Attention, only TODAY!

You will soon have a son or daughter, you are expecting a child and do not know what to name it?

Is life and community very important to you?

Have you decided to give your child a special or real Bulgarian name?

Or maybe you yourself want to change your name and surname to a more original, beautiful and in tune with famous personalities of Bulgarian history?

We really hope that our top 50 most popular first and last names in Bulgaria will help you solve your urgent problem.

To select the most popular names and surnames in Bulgaria, phone book data was used to understand the main point was used - statistics. The data itself is quite suitable for this kind of statistics, because it contains a large number of names and surnames from different regions of Bulgaria. There are more than 1 million people in the book from all municipalities and regions in Bulgaria.

The top contains results and complete statistics for women and male surnames and names, which is reflected in the top 50 (or most popular) Bulgarian given names and surnames.

Number of phonebook entries analyzed: 1089948

Number of unique names: 15791

Number of unique last names: 55055

Here are all the statistics compiled from several TOPs.

Top 50 Most Popular Bulgarian Names and Surnames

This top 50 contains all the names and surnames of the most popular, regardless of gender.

1. IVANOV Ivan
2. GEORGIEV Georgi
3. DIMITROV Dimitar (Dimitrov Dimitar)
4. PETROV Petar (Petrov Petrov)
5. CHRIST Christo
6. TODOROV Todor
7. STOYANOV Stoyan
8. YORDANOV Jordan
9. NIKOLOV Nikola
10. ATANASOV Atanas
11. VASILEV Vasil
12. NIKOLOV Nikolay
13. PETKOV Petko
14. ILIEV Ilia
15. STEFANOV Stefan
16. ANGELS Angel
17. IVANOV Georgi
18. MARINOV Marin
19. GEORGIEV Ivan
20. Dimitrov Georgi
21. IVANOV Dimitar (Ivanov Dimitar)
22. Dimitrov Ivan
23. GEORGIEV Dimitar (Georgiev Dimitar)
24. IVANOVA Maria
25. PETROV Ivan
26. MIKHAILOV Mikhail
27. ALEXANDROV Aleksandyr (Aleksandrov Aleksandyr)
28. KOLEV Kolyo
29. NIKOLOV Georgi
30. IVANOV Petar (Ivanov Petar)
31. NIKOLOV Ivan
32. KOSTADINOV Kostadin
33. PETROV Georgi
34. DIMOV Dimo
35. IVANOVA Ivanka
36. Simeonov Simeon
37. STOYANOV Ivan
38. CHRISTOV Ivan
39. TODOROV Ivan
40. CHRIST Georgi
41. GEORGIEVA Maria
42. STOYANOV Georgi
43. DIMITROVA Maria
44. GEORGIEV Petar (Georgiev Petar)
45. KOLEV Nikolay
46. ​​NIKOLOV Dimitar (Nikolov Dimitar)
47. IVANOV Christo
48. PAVLOV Pavel
49. PETROV Dimitar (Petrov Dimitar)
50. TODOROV Georgi

Top 50 Most Popular Bulgarian Names

The most popular Bulgarian names regardless of gender.

1. Ivan
2. Georgi
3. Dimitar (Dimitar)
4. Petar (Petar)
5. Maria
6. Christo
7. Todor
8. Nicholas
9. Vasil
10. Stefan
11. Jordan
12. Stoyan
13. Nicola
14. Ivanka
15. Atanas
16. Elena
17. Cyril
18. Angel
19. Aleksander (Aleksandyr)
20. Elijah
21. Jordanian
22. Boris
23. Krasimir
24. Foam
25. Margarita
26. Petko
27. Flames
28. Valentine
29. Violet
30. Rumen
31. Emil
32. Lubomir
33. Vladimir
34. Lilyana
35. Flower
36. Michael
37. Marin
38. Radka
39. Kostadin
40. Tsvetan
41. Hope
42. Veselin
43. Mariyka
44. Blush
45. Todorka
46. ​​Stefka
47. Parking lot
48. Asen
49. Cornflower
50. Simeon

Top 50 Most Popular Bulgarian Surnames

Bulgarian surnames are presented regardless of gender. With a small margin from each other, women with the same surnames are leading in our top.
1. IVANOV
2. GEORGIEV
3. Dimitrov
4. IVANOV
5. PETROV
6. GEORGIEVA
7. NIKOLOV
8. DIMITROVA
9. CHRIST
10. STOYANOV
11. TODOROV
12. PETROVA
13. NIKOLOVA
14. STOIANOVA
15. Iliev
16. CHRIST
17. Vasilev
18. ATANASOV
19. TODOROVA
20. PETKOV
21. ANGELS
22. KOLEV
23. YORDANOV
24. MARINOV
25. ILIEV
26. VASILEVA
27. ATANASOV
28. PETKOVA
29. STEFANOV
30. POPOV
31. ANGELOV
32. KOLEVA
33. YORDANOVA
34. MIKHAILOV
35. KRYSTEV (Krystev)
36. KOSTOV
37. MARINOVA
38. DIMOV
39. STEFANOVA
40. KOSTADINOV
41. POPOV
42. MIKHAILOV
43. PAVLOV
44. MITEV
45. SIMEONOV
46. ​​FLOWERS
47. KRESTEVA (Krysteva)
48. ALEXANDROV
49. MARKOV
50. KOSTOVA

Top 50 most popular Bulgarian male names

1. Ivan
2. Georgi
3. Dimitar (Dimitar)
4. Petar (Petar)
5. Christo
6. Todor
7. Nicholas
8. Vasil
9. Stefan
10. Jordan
11. Stoyan
12. Nicola
13. Atanas
14. Cyril
15. Angel
16. Aleksander (Aleksandyr)
17. Elijah
18. Boris
19. Krasimir
20. Petko
21. Flames
22. Valentine
23. Rumen
24. Emil
25. Lubomir
26. Vladimir
27. Michael
28. Marin
29. Kostadin
30. Tsvetan
31. Veselin
32. Asen
33. Simeon
34. Luben
35. Borislav
36. Mitko
37. Pavel
38. Anton
39. Slavcho
40. Ventsislav
41. Valerie
42. Methodi
43. Bozidar
44. Hello
45. Colo
46. ​​Dimo
47. Constantine
48. Boyan
49. Fire
50. Zhivko

Top 50 most popular Bulgarian male surnames

1. IVANOV
2. GEORGIEV
3. Dimitrov
4. PETROV
5. NIKOLOV
6. CHRIST
7. STOYANOV
8. TODOROV
9. ILIEV
10. Vasilev
11. ATANASOV
12. PETKOV
13. ANGELS
14. KOLEV
15. YORDANOV
16. MARINOV
17. STEFANOV
18. POPOV
19. MIKHAILOV
20. KRESTEV
21. KOSTOV
22. DIMOV
23. KOSTADINOV
24. PAVLOV
25. MITEV
26. SIMEONOV
27. FLOWERS
28. ALEXANDROV
29. MARKOV
30. SPASOV
31. LAZAROV
32. DOBREV
33. ANDREEV
34. MLADENOV
35. RUSEV
36. VLCHEV
37. RADEV
38. YANEV
39. FOUND
40. PENEV
41. YANKOV
42. STANCHEV
43. STOYCHEV
44. SLAVOV
45. GRIGOROV
46. ​​KIROV
47. ALEKSIEV
48. STANEV
49. STOYKOV
50. BORISOV

Top 50 most popular new Bulgarian female names

1. Maria
2. Ivanka
3. Elena
4. Jordanian
5. Foam
6. Margarita
7. Violet
8. Lilyana
9. Flower
10. Radka
11. Hope
12. Mariyka
13. Blush
14. Todorka
15. Stefka
16. Parking
17. Cornflower
18. Rositsa
19. Stanka
20. Emilia
21. Donka
22. Milka
23. Wieliczka
24. Rayna
25. Anka
26. Krasimira
27. Snezhana
28. Mariana
29. Valentine
30. Yanka
31. Christina
32. Katya
33. Nikolina
34. Daniela
35. Tatyana
36. Light
37. Galina
38. Zlatka
39. Lily
40. Catherine
41. Tsvetana
42. Not a good guy
43. Diana
44. Antoaneta
45. Peacock
46. ​​Anna
47. Veselina
48. Warbler
49. Mariyana
50. Julia

Top 50 most popular Bulgarian female surnames

1. IVANOV
2. GEORGIEVA
3. DIMITROVA
4. PETROVA
5. NIKOLOVA
6. STOIANOVA
7. CHRIST
8. TODOROVA
9. ILIEV
10. VASILEVA
11. ATANASOV
12. PETKOVA
13. ANGELOV
14. KOLEVA
15. YORDANOVA
16. MARINOVA
17. STEFANOVA
18. POPOVA
19. MIKHAILOV
20. KRESTEVA
21. KOSTOVA
22. DIMOVA
23. PAVLOVA
24. KOSTADINOVA
25. MITEVA
26. SIMEONOV
27. TSVETKOVA
28. ALEXANDROVA
29. MARKOV
30. SPASOVA
31. LAZAROVA
32. DOBREVA
33. MLADENOVA
34. ANDREEVA
35. YANEVA
36. RADEV
37. RUSEVA
38. YANKOVA
39. PENEVA
40. VLCHEVA
41. GRIGOROVA
42. KIROVA
43. NAYDENOVA
44. STANCHEVA
45. ALEKSIEVA
46. ​​STOYCHEVA
47. BORISOVA
48. SLAVOV
49. STANEVA
50. PANAYOTOVA

A correctly chosen name has a strong positive impact on the character and fate of a person. It actively helps to develop, forms positive qualities of character and state, improves health, removes various negative programs of the unconscious. But how do you pick the perfect name?

Despite the fact that there are interpretations in culture of what male names mean, in reality, the influence of the name on each boy is individual.

Sometimes parents try to choose a name before birth, making it difficult for the child to form. Astrology and numerology of choosing a name have squandered all serious knowledge about the influence of a name on fate through the ages.

Calendars of Christmas time, holy people, without consulting a seeing, perspicacious specialist, do not provide any real help in assessing the influence of names on the fate of a child.

And the lists of ... popular, happy, beautiful, melodious male names completely turn a blind eye to the individuality, energy, soul of the child and turn the selection procedure into an irresponsible game of parents in fashion, selfishness and ignorance.

Various characteristics according to statistics - positive features name, negative traits name, choosing a profession by name, the impact of a name on business, the impact of a name on health, the psychology of a name can only be considered in the context of a deep analysis of subtle plans (karma), energy structure, life tasks and the kind of a particular child.

The topic of compatibility of names (and not the characters of people) is an absurdity that turns inside out on interactions different people internal mechanisms of influence of the name on the state of its bearer. And it cancels the entire psyche, the unconscious, energy and behavior of people. It reduces the entire multidimensionality of human interaction to one false characteristic.

The meaning of the name has no literal effect. For example, Gabriel (the power of God), this does not mean that the young man will be strong, and the bearers of other names will be weak. The name can block his heart center and he will not be able to give and receive love. On the contrary, it will help another boy to solve problems for love or power, it will greatly facilitate life and achieve goals. The third boy may not bring any effect at all, whether there is a name or not. Etc. Moreover, all these children can be born on the same day. And have the same astrological, numerological and other characteristics.

The most popular Bulgarian names for boys in 2015 are also a delusion. Despite the fact that 95% of boys are called names that do not make life easier. You can focus only on a specific child, deep vision and wisdom of a specialist.

Secret male name like a program of the unconscious, sound wave, vibration is revealed by a special bouquet primarily in a person, and not in the semantic meaning and characteristics of a name. And if this name destroys the child, then there would be no beautiful, melodious with a patronymic, astrological, blissful, it would still be harm, destruction of character, complication of life and aggravation of fate.

Below is a hundred Bulgarian names. Try to choose a few, the most suitable in your opinion for the child. Then, if you are interested in the effectiveness of the impact of the name on fate, .

List of male Bulgarian names in alphabetical order:

BUT:

Jordan - flowing down
Alexander - Defender of Humanity
Andon - invaluable
Andrew - man, warrior
apostle - apostle
Asen - healthy, safe
Atanas - immortal

B:

Bogdan is a gift from God
Bogomil - the grace of God
Bojidar is a divine gift
Bozidar - a divine gift
Borislav - the glory of battle
Branimir - protection and peace

AT:

Vazil is king

G:

Gabriel, Gabriel is a strong man of God, my power is God
Gavrail - strong man of god

D:

Damian - taming, subjugating
Daneil - God is my judge
Dezislav - glory
Georgie the farmer
Dimitar - loving the earth

AND:

Zhivko is alive

Z:

Zachary - God Remembers

AND:

Ivan is a good god
Iveilo - wolf
Elijah - God is my master
Ilya - God is my master
John - good god
Joseph - adding, multiplying
Jordan - flowing down

TO:

Kaloyan - beautiful
carliman is human
Kiril - lord
Crastaio - the cross

L:

Lazar - my god helped
Luben - love
Luben - love
Lubomir - the world of love
Lyudmil - dear to people

M:

Momchil - boy, youth

H:

Nicephorus - bringer of victory
Nikola - the victory of the people

O:

Ognian - fire
Ognyan - fire

P:

Penko - rock, stone
Petar - rock, stone
Plaimn - fire, flame

R:

Radko - happy

FROM:

Sava - old man
Samuel - heard by God
Savior - saved
Stanimir - peaceful ruler
Stoyan - standing, persistent

T:

Timothy - worshiping God
Todor is a gift from God
Tom is a twin
Tsvetan - flower

F:

Philip is a horse lover

X:

Christo - bearer of the cross

H:

Chavdar - leader

I:

Yang - God's grace, (Persian) soul, (Chinese) sun, man, (Tibet.) male energy, strength, (Turkish) support, (Slavic) river
Yanko - good god

Bulgaria is a country with interesting history and culture. It impresses with its beauty, hospitality, delicious cuisine and wonderful nature. There is a lot of sun, sea, kindness and good mood. And there are a lot of names in Bulgaria. Perhaps, in no other country in the world there is such a variety of them, and all of them are surprisingly beautiful in sound and rare. Belotsvet, Bazhan, Rusan, Desislav, Radoslav, Stanimir, Krasimir. Where else can you meet people with such interesting names. From the same root, the Bulgarians managed to come up with a dozen names. For example, with the root -rad -: Radan, Radana, Radko, Radail, Radislav, Radostin, Radon, Radoy. And it should be noted that all these are not variants of the same thing, that is, not an abbreviation. Each of them can be seen in the passport of a citizen of Bulgaria. One can only guess how difficult it is for parents in Bulgaria to decide what to name their daughter or son. After all, they have to choose from more than 2,000 male nicknames, and the number of female ones even exceeds 3,000.

A bit of history

The most ancient are Slavic. These include, for example, Boyan, Radislav, Dragomir, as well as Vladimir, familiar to Russians. They have diminutive forms that are used not only in Everyday life but also in the documentation. Even in the passport of a Bulgarian citizen you can find the names of Boyko, Rado and Drago. But Vladimir in Bulgaria is neither Vova nor Volodya. The diminutive form of this nickname here is Vlado.

As a result of the settlement of the Slavs in the Balkans, Thracian, Latin and Turkic names began to appear in Bulgarian culture. And after the baptism of Russia, children here began to be called Greek and Jewish names. Despite the fact that Bulgaria was under Turkish rule for a long time, Muslim names are practically not common here. In recent decades, however, as in other countries, there are more and more names of foreign origin here. It is not uncommon to meet little Diana, Nicole or Gabriela on the streets of the country.

• The name of a person in Bulgaria is more important than his last name. Some documents don't even mention it;
• Bulgarians practically do not use patronymics in everyday life, although officially every inhabitant of the country has one;
• more than 50,000 men in Bulgaria are called Angel;
• Petya, Vanya, Borya and Gena in Bulgaria are worn by women, and boys here are called Lyudmil and Marin;
• Bulgarians have a lot of "flower" nicknames. If for Russians it is Rose and Lily, then in Bulgaria you can meet Tsvetana, Jasmine, Camellia, Rouge, as well as men Tsvetan, Tsvetko and Rosen;
• Zapryanka and the male counterpart Zapryan are symbolic nicknames among the Bulgarians. They are called boys and girls, if there are too many children in the family, and the parents want to, as it were, lock the door, stop;
• the use of the forms Lenka, Verka, Lyubka does not carry a shade of neglect in Bulgaria. In our country it is more like nicknames, but here respected people are also called that;
• Bulgarians love to cut. Anastasia - Ani, Elena - Elya, Magdalena - Magi, Nikolo - Niki, Violeta - Vili:, Maria - Mimi;
• Newborns in Bulgaria are usually named after their grandparents. Few parents change this tradition. Some name children by the first letter of their father's or mother's nicknames;
• Until the second half of the 20th century, Bulgarians did not have surnames. This function was performed by the patronymic. For example, the son of Peter and the grandson of Kolya were called Ivan Petrov Kolov;
• among Bulgarians, patronymic is formed by adding the suffix -ov. If the Russians call their son Ivan, for example, Pyotr Ivanovich, then in Bulgaria they will call him Pyotr Ivanov;
• Maria and Mariyka are different names among the Bulgarians;
• from the original male nicknames, one can single out the Apostle, the Warrior and the Lord.

Common names

Most often, boys in Bulgaria are called George. More than 170 thousand men are called that, and this is 5% of the total population. This is evidenced by the data of the National Institute of Statistics. More than 3% of the residents are called Marys. This is the most common name in Bulgaria for newborn girls. The second most popular male nickname is Ivan. It is quite a bit behind George. A little more than 130 thousand male population is called Dimitar. Thus, it is the third most popular name. The top ten also includes Nikolai, Petyr, Christo, Jordan and Aleksandyr.

As for women, the second most popular after Maria is Ivanka, followed by Elena, Yordanka, Penka, Mariyka, Rositsa. In the last five years, girls are most often called Alexandra and Victoria, as well as Nicole, Gabriela and Simone, borrowed from the West. However, the Bulgarians honor their culture, and therefore primordially Slavic names do not lose their popularity here.