The ancient slogan "Know thyself" can also be attributed to a personal name. Our ancestors considered the name to be an important energy factor in the fate of a person who is able to control the fate of its owner. The choice of a name in ancient times was attributed to a ritual act capable of endowing a person with an additional source of strength. After all, almost every name has its own history, meaning and properties.
For example, in Bulgaria even now they take personal and family names very seriously. So, in Sofia state academy Sciences, there is a division that studies Bulgarian names. In this institution, everyone has the opportunity to receive a certificate, which will contain historical data about his name and surname.
A bit of history
The Bulgarians have many unique names, reflecting the rich cultural heritage various peoples. The Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Smolensk, Bulgars, Timochan and Strumyans living on the Bulgarian lands left their mark on the history of the country. They shaped her ancient traditions and influenced the ethnic characteristics of the state. Today, the concept of "primordially Bulgarian names" implies a mixture of traditional Bulgarian and Slavic names for people.
Proto-Bulgarian names
Unfortunately, most of the Bulgarian names have sunk into oblivion, as they were difficult to pronounce. In addition, mainly monarchs, princes, boyars and their descendants had the right to wear them. Their striking examples are the Bulgarian names that have survived to our time: Kotrag, Batbayan, Asen, Asparukh, Altsek, Vylch, Vokil and Sandok. Some of the names that are still popular today, such as Jordan, Piyo and Shoul, probably originally hide the Bulgar, Cuman or Pecan root. During the long Greek and Turkish protectorate, almost all ancient names disappeared from folk tradition of this state. And only recently some of them have been literally restored. Another part of the Proto-Bulgarian names mixed with the Slavic ones, and now it is already quite difficult to determine their most probable origin.
Names of Slavic origin
The system that forms various names from one or more bases, characteristic of all Slavic tribes. For example, in the names Darin, Darko, Darinka, Daria, a common root word is used - "gift", which is actually the meaning for these names. And such Bulgarian male names of Slavic origin as Miroslav, Dobromir, Spasimir, Berislav, Berimir, Zhivoslav, Rodislav, have two bases. Their meaning is dedicated to protecting and achieving the desired goal. In general, the number of names in the Bulgarian language containing the words "good", "glory", "peace" is quite large.
The meaning of Bulgarian names with a common Slavic generatrix - Vladimir, Vladislav, Dragomir or their shortened forms Drago, Miro, Slavyan - also shows the desire to achieve peace and glory. Names that are defensive in nature are no less common. It is believed that the names Strazhimir, Tikhomir and Stanimir will save their bearers from the evil forces.
Christian names
The adoption of Christianity in the Bulgarian lands was reflected in the traditions and culture of the population. The Orthodox faith also brought new Bulgarian names. A vivid example of this is Prince Boris, who, having converted to Christianity, became Michael at baptism. The names that we call Christian generally correspond to three language systems - Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
The Jewish system is represented mainly by biblical characters from the Old Testament. These are such names as Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Abraham, David, Daniel and so on. The Greek system is represented by the names given in the holy calendar. For example: Anastasia, Ekaterina, Zoya, Mina, Peter, George, Nikolai, Alexander, Christo, Anastas, Gerasim. Thanks to the spread Greek culture in Bulgaria, the names of such mythological characters as Galatea, Cassandra, Hercules, Dionysius also began to appear. Latin names in this country are not less popular. Quite often you can find options Victor, Victoria, Valentin, Valentina, Vera, Ignat.
Turkish influence
Despite centuries of slavery, Turkish personal names did not particularly take root among the Bulgarians, probably due to differences in religion. They are found mainly among the Pomaki population. Of these names, however, a small number have been found containing a Turkish root. But they are formed on Bulgarian soil from well-known Turkish words. These are: Demir, Demira, Demirka, Kurti, Sevda, Sultana, Sirma, Fatme, Ayse.
Political influence
At times national revival in Bulgaria there are more and more names reflecting political, literary and other influences. For example, at the end of Turkish slavery, the personal name Venelin appeared, which is actually the surname of the Russian writer, historian Yuri Venelin. A little later, after liberation, the names Alexander and Vladimir became more popular because of the Russian Emperor Alexander II and his son Vladimir. And after the October Revolution, such personal names as Lenin, Budion, and later Stalin and Stalinka appeared.
By semantics, old names that are becoming popular again with young parents can be divided into two groups. They do not always have clear boundaries, but are divided into protective ones and those that include the best wishes of parents to their child.
Male names
- Life and health: Zhivko, Zdravko.
- Well-being in the family: Bro, Baino, Vezenko, Tatun, Novko, Zabarin.
- Success in life: Parvan, Vidu, Velcho, Great, Sreten.
- Strength and courage: Warrior, Boyko, Strahil, Silyan, Piles.
- Positive characteristics: Veselin, Radi, Drago, Dobri, Sincere.
- Physical beauty: Mleden, Kudra, Huden.
Women's names
Popular Bulgarian female names, except for the wishes of physical beauty, in themselves mean good and pleasant things:
- Beauty: Vida, Mila, Lepa.
- Flowers: Needle, Nevena, Ruya, Temenuyka, Rose, Tsvetanka, Albena.
- Herbs and trees: Bill, Detlin, Rositsa.
- Trees and fruits: Elitsa, Kalina.
- Birds: Pauna, Slavia.
- Heavenly lights: Zvezda, Denitsa, Desislava, Zornitsa, Zorka, Zorina, Zorana, Zoritsa.
Despite the growing interest in ancient names, according to sociological research, in Bulgaria are still the most popular: Ivan, Ivanka, Georgi, Georgana, Ayordan, Ayordanka, Bogdan, Bogdana, Anastas, Anastasia, Maria, Marin, Margarita, Alexandra, Elena, Daria, Todor, Dimitar, Vasil, Kaloyan, Yveline, Stefan.
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 Nikolai
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
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, most often girls are 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.
CLICK BLANK FIELD _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
**** HOLY TRINITY CHURCH - We believe that our joint desire and indifference will help restore the Holy Trinity Church and the ringing of its bells will become a symbol of faith, hope and love for all the descendants of Bulgarian settlers in Tavria. - Ukraine. The village of Radolovka, Primorsky district, Zaporozhye region. - History reference. - ... "Holy Trinity" church was built in 1907 at the expense of the founders of the village - Bulgarian settlers who refused to accept Islam from the Turks in Bulgaria, and remained faithful to Orthodoxy. The construction of the church lasted about five years using local building materials. The church was one of the most beautiful examples of Bulgarian church architecture on the territory of the Bulgarian colonies in the Sea of Azov (Tavria). After October revolution 1917 and graduation civil war in 1929, the church was closed by the communist activists of the village, the copper bells and the cross from the church were sent for melting down, and a folk theater was opened in the church building. With the help of Bulgarian political emigrants in 1930, the church was electrified and painted with scenes from the collectivization of the village, as a result of which all the internal paintings of the temple of religious content were destroyed. In the building of the temple, in parallel with the folk theater, a rural library was opened. From September 17, 1943 to March 1944, there was a military field hospital in the church building, in the fall of 1943 the church building was bombed by the Nazis, as a result, the central dome and the bell tower were destroyed, some of the wounded soldiers of the Red Army who were in it at that time died. From 1944 to 2000, the church building was used as a granary and building materials warehouse. In 1977, taking into account the architectural value of the church building, the leadership of the Leningrad workshop for the restoration of architectural monuments proposed to the local collective farm to free the church from grain for its restoration, but this proposal was rejected. In 1994, a community of parishioners was formed in the village, which held several subbotniks to clean the church building from debris. Since 2000, the church has been on the balance sheet of the Gyunov village council. In the same year, with the support of Father Dmitry from the city of Primorsk, the church was surveyed by specialists who compiled design estimates for the restoration of the church. During the entire existence of the "Holy Trinity" temple, he, like his creators and their descendants, had to go through a lot: the greatness and prosperity of the Bulgarian colonies in Tavria, revolutionary oblivion and the fire of intolerance, the death and destruction of war, economic difficulties and instability of our time. ****
select a country and click on it - a page with lists of popular names will openA state in Southeastern Europe, in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The capital is Sofia. Population - 7,202,198 (2014). I will also give data on ethnic groups and languages (for 2011). 84.8% are Bulgarians. The second largest group is the Turks (8.8%). 4.9% of Gypsies live, 0.15% of Russians, as well as Armenians, Circassians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Karakachans, Jews, Gagauz. Most of the inhabitants of Bulgaria are Orthodox Christians (83.96%), 0.85% are Catholics, 1.12% are Protestants. 2.02% - Muslims, 0.012% - Jews. The official language is Bulgarian, which is native to 85.2% of the population. The Bulgarian alphabet, as you know, is Cyrillic.
Turkish is the native language for 8.8% of people. It is widely distributed in the regions of Kardzhali, Razgrad, Targovishte, Shumen, Silistra, Dobrich, Ruse and Burgas.
The Bulgarian personal name is similar to the Russian one, since the basis of both are names from the Orthodox church calendar. The Bulgarians have a lot of names of Slavic origin. There are Thracians. Turkish, despite the long Turkish rule, the Bulgarians are almost not perceived. A feature of the Bulgarian naming in comparison with Russian is the widespread use as official diminutives, short forms names (for example: Boyko, Vlado, Drago, Miro, Rado, Slavko).
The official statistics of names in Bulgaria is supplied by the National Statistical Institute. This statistic has been available on its website since 2010. It is usually published in late December or early January and does not include data for December. Therefore, the statistics on the names in the Institute's press releases are preliminary. In 2011, he published a press release containing information about the most popular names in Bulgaria in 2007–2010
20 most common male names
Place Name Number of media % carriers 1 Georgi 171356 4.9 2 Ivan 164858 4.7 3 Dimitar 126990 3.6 4 Nicholas 94637 2.7 5 Petar 76968 2.2 6 Christo 62592 1.8 7 Alexander 57313 1.6 8 Stephen 53728 1.5 9 Jordan 53352 1.5 10 Vasil 51607 1.5 11 Todor 50090 1.4 12 Stoyan 49667 1.4 13 Atanas 47109 1.3 14 Angel 46513 1.3 15 Krasimir 44984 1.3 16 flames 41282 1.2 17 Nikola 39178 1.1 18 Ivaylo 35771 1.0 19 Valentine 33740 1.0 20 Emil 32330 0.9 Of the Muslim male names in modern Bulgaria, the most common are Mehmed(16 thousand), Ahmed(14 thousand), Mustafa(12 thousand).
20 most common female names
Place Name Number of media % carriers 1 Maria 120049 3.2 2 Ivanka 63675 1.7 3 Elena 54778 1.5 4 Jordanian 40497 1.1 5 Penka 33228 0.9 6 Daniela 30451 0.8 7 Rositsa 30143 0.8 8 Mariyka 30052 0.8 9 Petya 29485 0.8 10 Desislava 29468 0.8 11 Gergana 27894 0.8 12 Violeta 27102 0.7 13 margarita 26978 0.7 14 Hope 26350 0.7 15 Radka 26002 0.7 16 Silvia 24786 0.7 17 Emilia 24729 0.7 18 Blush 24694 0.7 19 Victoria 23640 0.6 20 Parking 23567 0.6 Of the female Muslim names in modern Bulgaria, the most common are Fatme(17 thousand), Aisha(15 thousand), Emine(10 thousand).
20 most common male newborn names
Place Name Number of named % named 1 Georgi 1249 3.5 2 Alexander 1222 3.5 3 Martin 1024 2.9 4 Ivan 821 2.3 5 Dimitar 775 2.2 6 Nikola 750 2.1 7 Daniel 701 2.0 8 Nicholas 696 2.0 9 Victor 693 2.0 10 Kaloyan 628 1.8 11 Christian 550 1.6 12 Boris 513 1.5 13 Theodore 503 1.4 14 Bozidar 477 1.4 15 Stephen 406 1.2 16 Petar 379 1.1 17 Alex 376 1.1 18 Michael 349 1.0 19 Christo 348 1.0 20 Ivaylo 348 1.0 The most common male names of newborns from Muslim families: Emir(202) and Mert (133).
20 most common female baby names
Place Name Number of named % named 1 Victoria 931 2.8 2 Nicol 883 2.6 3 Maria 862 2.6 4 Alexandra 592 1.8 5 Gabriela 494 1.5 6 Darius 448 1.3 7 Yoana 412 1.2 8 Raya 408 1.2 9 Sofia 377 1.1 10 Simone 355 1.1 11 Elena 339 1.0 12 Theodora 313 0.9 13 Siyana 307 0.9 14 Gergana 296 0.9 15 Michaela 265 0.8 16 Ivayla 248 0.7 17 Magdalena 244 0.7 18 Bozhidara 240 0.7 19 ema 219 0.7 20 Stephanie 211 0.6 The most common female names of newborns from Muslim families: Elif(136) and Melek (98).
One publication has the top 20 names of newborns in Bulgaria in 1980. Here are the first 10 names from that list.
Men's: Ivan, Georgi, Dimitar, Petar, Christo, Nikolai, Todor, Jordan, Stoyan, Vasil
Women's: Maria, Ivanka, Elena, Mariyka, Yordanka, Ana, Penka, Hope, Radka, AnkaYou can clearly see how much the top 10 female names have been updated. Of the former composition, after 30 years, only the name remained. Maria. The male part of the name changed more slowly. In the modern top 10 we find 4 names from the top 10 of 1980: Ivan, Georgi, Dimitar, Nikolay.
Many of the above names of Bulgarians among Russians meet correspondences that are traditional and familiar to Russians. There are few unusual names for Russians in the top 20. I will give some of them with etymological explanations.
Bozidar- translation (tracing paper) of the Greek name Theodore i.e. "god" + "gift". The feminine form of the name is Bozhidar.
Desislava- feminine to Desislav(fam. from decity"find, comprehend" + glory).
Ivaylo- the name of the Bulgarian king in 1277-1280. It can also be a variant of the name Ivan and type of name Vjlo(translated as "wolf"). The feminine form of the name is Evayla.
Kaloyan- the male name of several historical figures. Among them are the Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143 and the king of Bulgaria from 1197 to 1207. The name comes from the Greek Kaloiōannēs, which means "good John" or "beautiful John". The feminine form of the name is Kaloyan.
Penka – female form name Penko. Last thing - folk form name Petar(Russian Peter). According to another etymology, an abbreviation for Petkana(from the name of the day of the week "Friday").
Radka(female) - from glad("joyful").
Rositsa(feminine) - either associated with the word dew, or feminine to Rosen(flower name rosen, in Russian dittany).
Blush- feminine form of the name Rumen("ruddy", that is, having healthy red cheeks).
Siyana(female) - "bright, light." Although it may well be a derivative of such female names as Vasiyana, Kasiyan, Rusiyana etc., or name Sia("bright" or from the name Anastasia).