Bulgarian names for boys are modern. Bulgarian surnames

The ancient slogan “Know thyself” can also be applied to a personal name. Our ancestors considered the name to be an important energetic factor in the fate of a person, who is able to control the fate of its owner. In ancient times, choosing a name was considered a ritual act that could provide 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. So, in Sofia at State Academy sciences there is a division that studies Bulgarian names. In this institution, everyone has the opportunity to receive a certificate, which will indicate historical data about his name and surname.

A little history

Bulgarians have many unique names that reflect their rich cultural heritage various peoples. The Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Smolyans, Bulgars, Timochans and Strumians who lived on the Bulgarian lands left their mark on the history of the country. They shaped her ancient traditions and influenced ethnic characteristics states. Today, the concept of “original Bulgarian names” implies a mixture of traditional Bulgarian and Slavic names for people.

Proto-Bulgarian names

Unfortunately, most of Bulgarian names sank into oblivion because they were unpronounceable. 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 this day: Kotrag, Batbayan, Asen, Asparukh, Altsek, Valch, Vokil and Sandok. Some of the names that are still popular today, such as Jordan, Piyo and Shoal, probably originally hide a Bulgarian, Cumman or Pecan root. During the long Greek and Turkish protectorate, almost all ancient names disappeared from folk tradition of this state. And only in Lately some of them were literally restored. Another part of the Proto-Bulgarian names mixed with Slavic ones, and now it is quite difficult to determine their most likely origin.

Names of Slavic origin

System forming different names from one or more bases, is 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 protection 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 element - Vladimir, Vladislav, Dragomir or their shortened forms Drago, Miro, Slavs - 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, Tihomir and Stanimir will protect their bearers from the evil forces.

Christian names

The adoption of Christianity in Bulgarian lands was reflected in the traditions and culture of the population. The Orthodox faith also brought new Bulgarian names. A striking example Prince Boris appears to him, who, having converted to Christianity, became Michael at baptism. The names we call Christian generally correspond to three linguistic systems - Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

The Jewish system is represented mainly biblical heroes from the Old Testament. These are names such as Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Abraham, David, Daniel and so on. The Greek system is represented by the names given in the 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 they are no less popular. Quite often you can find the options Victor, Victoria, Valentin, Valentina, Vera, Ignat.

Turkish influence

Despite centuries of slavery, Turkish personal names did not particularly take root among Bulgarians, probably due to differences in religion. They are found mainly among the population of Pomaki. Of these names, however, a small number have been found containing a Turkish root. But they were formed on Bulgarian soil from well-known Turkish words. These are: Demir, Demira, Demirka, Kurti, Sevda, Sultana, Sirma, Fatme, Ayse.

Political influence

During times national revival More and more names are appearing in Bulgaria 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 then October revolution such personal names as Lenin, Budyon, and later Stalin and Stalinka appeared.

Based on semantics, old names that are again becoming popular among young parents can be divided into two groups. They do not always have clear boundaries, but are divided into protective and those that include best wishes 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, Strakhil, Silyan, Grudy.
• Positive characteristics: Veselin, Radi, Drago, Dobri, Iskren.
• Physical beauty: Mleden, Kudra, Khuden.

Female names

Popular Bulgarian female names, in addition to wishes for physical beauty, in themselves mean good and pleasant things:

• Beauty: Vida, Mila, Lepa.
• Flowers: Iglika, Nevena, Ruya, Temenuika, Rose, Tsvetanka, Albena.
• Herbs and trees: Billa, Detlina, Rositsa.
• Trees and fruits: Elitsa, Viburnum.
• Birds: Pauna, Slavia.
• Heavenly lights: Star, Denitsa, Desislava, Zornitsa, Zorka, Zorina, Zorana, Zoritsa.

Despite the growing interest in ancient names, according to sociological research, in Bulgaria still remain the most popular: Ivan, Ivanka, Georgi, Georgana, Ayordan, Ayordanka, Bogdan, Bogdana, Anastas, Anastasia, Maria, Marin, Margarita, Alexandra, Elena, Daria, Todor, Dimitar, Vasil, Kaloyan, Yvelin, Stefan.

Bulgarian language belongs to southern group Slavic languages ​​that are part of the Indo-European language family.

The modern Bulgarian name book contains names of different origins and related to different eras. The most ancient names include those common to the majority Slavic peoples, such as Velislav, Vladimer/Vladimir, Vladislav, Dragomir, Radomer/Radomir. Subsequently they underwent significant changes. For example, from the name Vladimir in the Bulgarian language they are formed male names Vlad, Vlado, Vladai, Vladaicho, Vladan, Vladin, Vladun, Vladyo, Vlaiko, Vlaicho, Lado. and female - Vlada, Vladepa, Vladka, Vladimirka, Vladitsa, Vladunka, Ladana.

With the adoption of Christianity by the Bulgarians (around 865), Bulgarian anthroponymy appears big number Christian names (Greek, Hebrew, Latin in origin): Alexander, Georgi, Ivan, Christo, Ana, Maria, Julia. Often christian names were replaced understandable to the people tracing translations: Petar (Greek) - Kamen, Theodosius, Todor (Greek) - Bozhidar, Bogdan. In other cases, they were adapted taking into account pronunciation norms Bulgarian language: Dimitri (Greek) - Dimitar, Dimo, Dimcho, Yoleazar (Hebrew) - Lazar, Lazo, Lacho.

The most significant layer of names, both male and female, formed on the basis of the vocabulary of the Bulgarian language. These are appellative names, for example: Zlatan, Parvan, Vulkan, Krusho. In some cases, these are names-amulets, names-wishes that were given to a child to protect him from evil spirits and all sorts of troubles, for example: Valyako, Dobri, Zhivko, Zdravko, Lubeck, Ognyan, Stoyan. Female names were regularly formed from male personal names, while male names from female ones much less frequently: Zlat (male) - Zlatitsa (female), Prodan - Sold, but Ruzha (female) - Ruzhan (male), Ekaterina - Ekaterin.

A characteristic feature of the Bulgarian anthroponymic system is the large number of formants, which made it possible to form different names with the same semantics from one name or root: for male names the suffixes -an, -yan, -din, -en, -il -in, -ko, -oh, -osh, -ush, -cho, for female names -a, -ya, -ka, -tsa, -che. Some of them give names a certain stylistic

coloring So, formants -ko, -cho ( male), -ka ( female) can
introduce a diminutive connotation into the meaning of the name (especially if there are parallel forms of names: Andrey - Andreycho - Andreyko, Mladen - Mladencho,
Lila - Lilka). Actually diminutive suffixes: male names ence (Vasyo - Vasentse), female names -che (Maria - Mariyche). This category of names can also be used with the postpositive member -to.

Despite the long Turkish rule in the Balkan Peninsula, Turkish personal names are adopted to a very small extent by the Bulgarians; Turkish anthroponyms are common among Bulgarians who converted to Islam (Pomaks).

During the period of the Bulgarian revival (19th century), the number of borrowed foreign names increased, penetrating through literature, newspapers and magazines or associated with certain political or historical events, for example: Robinson, Romeo, Margarita, Lyudmila, Gurko, Venelin.

The Bulgarian name book is constantly enriched and replenished with new names, borrowed or created according to the well-known word-formation model: Plamen, Vihren (modeled on Rumen), Svetomir/Svetlomir (modeled on Vladimir), Snezhana/Snezhanka (modeled on Bozhana), Snezhinka.

Parents' choice of AI for a child modern practice arbitrary. In the past, the most common tradition was to name the first child, a boy, after his paternal grandfather, and a girl, after her paternal grandmother. The second child was named after the maternal grandfather or grandmother. If the child was born on the day of remembrance of a saint or on the day church holiday, then he was given the name of this saint or named in honor of a holiday, for example, Duho - in honor of the day of the Holy Spirit, Vrachena.
The surname was not typical for Bulgarians and appeared (in modern meaning) not earlier than the period of the Bulgarian Renaissance. Before this, patronyms in -ov, -ee (Petkov, Gotsev) and matronyms in -in (Dunkin, Jordan) served the function possessive adjectives and were used to explain AI. The same function was performed by place names in -ski, -chki, -shki, for example Kliment Ohridski (that is, from Ohrid), Dimcho Lesicherski (that is, from the village of Lesicharka), as well as numerous nicknames and nicknames such as Noncho Plyaka (ta) - plyaka ( colloquial) “cunning”, Mara Papazulya (ta)-papazulya (dial.) “popadya”.

However, the process of consolidating the patronymic and turning it into a surname gradually intensified. After the liberation of Bulgaria from the yoke Ottoman Empire(1878), with the establishment of new socio-political, cultural and everyday relations, AM “AI + surname” became widespread. Most often, the surname was formed from the father (less often the mother), sometimes the grandfather or more distant ancestors. Surnames could also be formed from nicknames (Mechkov-mechkata “bear”), names of professions and occupations (Kovachev, Kovachki, Kovashki<ковач «кузнец »; Сакаджиев, Сакаджийски<сакаджия «водонос »), топонимов (Ковачес/ш — названия села Ковачево). Женские фамилии образовывались от мужских прибавлением окончания -а (Ковачева). Фамилии на -ич, -ович, -оглу, -олу, распространенные в XIX веке, не характерны для современной антропонимической системы болгар.

A feature of the modern Bulgarian anthroponymic system can also be considered the introduction in some cases of a third member in AM. In passports, orders, applications and other official documents, the trinomial “AI + OI + NI” is used to identify individuals (Zakhara Stoyanov Nakolov). The use of a trinomial is a sign of extreme formality. Sometimes, in writing, the full AI or OI may be replaced by initials.

In everyday life, both in official and family communication, the binomial “AI + surname” is used. In the official business sphere of public life, people are addressed by last name or position, profession with the addition of the words drugar, drugarka “comrade” in the vocative form: drugar Kolya, drugarka Stankov. In family and everyday communication, Bulgarians most often use a personal name: Todore, Petre, Eleno, None.

In colloquial language, when respectfully addressing an elder, kinship terms in the vocative form were previously widely used (either independently or in combination with AI); uncle "grandfather", "grandfather", bai, chicho "uncle", bae, bate "elder brother", baba "grandmother", lelya "aunt", kaka "elder sister", "elder woman". In modern colloquial practice (colloquial speech), only the words bai and kaka are actively used, for example: bai Stojane, kako Donke.

Bulgaria is a country with an interesting history and culture. It amazes with its beauty, hospitality, delicious cuisine and wonderful nature. There is a lot of sun, sea, kindness and good mood. There are also a lot of names in Bulgaria. Perhaps no other country in the world has such a variety of them, and they are all amazingly beautiful in sound and rare. Belotsveta, Bazhana, Rusana, Desislava, Radoslav, Stanimir, Krasimir. Where else can you meet people with such interesting names? The Bulgarians managed to come up with a dozen names from the same root. For example, with the root -rad -: Radan, Radana, Radko, Radail, Radislav, Radostin, Radon, Radoy. And it should be noted that all of these are not variants of the same thing, that is, not an abbreviation. Each of them can be seen in the passport of a Bulgarian citizen. 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 nicknames exceeds the 3,000 mark.

A little history

The most ancient are Slavic. These include, for example, Boyan, Radislav, Dragomir, as well as the familiar for Russians - Vladimir. They have diminutive forms that are used not only in everyday life, but also in documentation. Even in the passport of a Bulgarian citizen you can find the names Boyko, Rado and Drago. But Vladimir in Bulgaria is not Vova or 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 Rus', children here began to be called by Greek and Hebrew 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, names of foreign origin are increasingly found here. It is not uncommon to meet little Diana, Nicole or Gabriela on the streets of the country.

• A person's first name in Bulgaria is more important than his last name. In some documents it is not even indicated;
• Bulgarians practically do not use patronymic names in everyday life, although officially every resident 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 “flowery” nicknames. If for Russians these are Rose and Lily, then in Bulgaria you can find Tsvetana, Jasmine, Camellia, Ruzha, as well as men Tsvetana, Tsvetko and Rosen;
• Zapryanka and the male counterpart Zapryan are symbolic nicknames among 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 connotation of disdain in Bulgaria. With us it’s more like nicknames, but here they also call respected people;
• Bulgarians love to abbreviate. Anastasia - Ani, Elena - Elya, Magdalena - Magi, Nicolo - Niki, Violeta - Vili, Maria - Mimi;
• Newborns in Bulgaria are usually named after their grandparents. Few parents change this tradition. Some name their children by the first letter of their father's or mother's nickname;
• 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 Kolyov;
• Among Bulgarians, patronymics are formed by adding the suffix - ov. If the Russians call Ivan’s son, for example, Pyotr Ivanovich, then in Bulgaria they will call him Pyotr Ivanov;
• Maria and Mariyka are different names among Bulgarians;
• Among the original male nicknames we can distinguish Apostle, Warrior and Master.

Common names

Most often boys in Bulgaria are called Georgiy. More than 170 thousand men are called this way, and this is 5% of the total population. This is evidenced by data from the National Institute of Statistics. More than 3% of residents are called Maria. This is the name most often given to newborn girls in Bulgaria. The second most popular male nickname is Ivan. It is quite a bit behind Georgiy. And just over 130 thousand of the male population are called Dimitar. This makes it the third most popular name. The top ten also includes Nikolay, Petyr, Hristo, Jordan and Aleksandir.

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

The centuries-old traditions of any country are largely reflected in the names that parents give to their children at birth. For example, many Bulgarian names have a special meaning and show certain characteristics 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 - Muslim. As in other countries, children nowadays are called by international names.

Origin and traditions

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

• Turkish;
• Greek;
• Latin;
• Jewish.

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

However, compared to many other countries, many, especially Bulgarian male names, have remained unchanged. This is because in Bulgaria there is still a tradition of naming children in honor of their ancestors, and often a child could be named after his grandmother or grandfather, regardless of his gender. Names in the country are also unique in that many of them have both masculine and feminine forms. Among them:

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

Often names are chosen according to the church calendar. Then the child is named after the saint on whose day he was born. A name can also mean one or another property. This is explained by the Bulgarians' belief in the power of words. The influence of other cultures, in particular Turkish, is felt in the names. These names are of Turkish origin, How:

• Demir and Demir;
• 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 Gozho, Evsenia, Bakhtalo and others. Some of them are truly of gypsy origin, in other cases the 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 meaning, for example:

There are women's traditional names of this country, which in Russia are considered masculine, and in a short form. For example, Petya or Vanya. In Bulgaria you can often meet girls whose names are Tsvetans, Ivankas, Tsvetskas, Jordankas, Zornitsas and more.

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

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

No less popular are the names more familiar to Russians - Vladimir or Yaroslav. 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 more.

Like women's names, Bulgarian boys' names have their own meaning. In addition, it was often possible to determine by the boy’s name what his family was doing.

For example, Dimitars or Georgies most often called the children of peasant farmers. But Philippas most often appeared in the families of riders or horse breeders. This name translates to “horse lover.” It is quite possible that the ancestors of the singer Kirkorov were involved in horses.

Other meanings of male names include:

In addition, in Bulgaria there are Angel or Apostle. It is worth noting that there are more men in Bulgaria who have “Angel” written in their passport than in the world. For this reason, many call Bulgaria “the country of Angels”.

Modern tendencies

If you believe 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, there are much more female ones - 38 thousand, respectively.

Boys are most often called Ivan and Georgiy. 38 percent of the male population is called this way. And the most common female name in the country is Maria, if we also count its 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 boys are still mostly called Georgies. And in recent years, girls have often begun to be called with double names in a foreign style, such as Anna-Maria, Maria-Margarita and others.

Last names 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 towards the end of the 19th century.

In spelling, they do not differ from traditional Russian surnames, but, unlike them, they have a “floating” accent that can change. Like Russians, many Bulgarian surnames for women or men end in -ev (Botev or Tashev) or -ov (Todorov, Vazov). A smaller number were formed using the suffixes -shki, -ski or -chki, reminiscent of Polish. Their origins are ancient, associated with the 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 given names - both directly Bulgarian and Christian in general. For example, Pavlov, Isaev, Ivanov and others, some are in no way different from Russians.

There are also special surnames that are also considered traditional Bulgarian, however, they may seem to be of Muslim origin. These include the surnames Hadzhipopov, Hadzhigeorgiev and others with a similar prefix. The word “Hajj” in the Muslim world is 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 this way 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 a choice of the surname of their father or mother, either assigned a new one after the name of their grandfather, or the surnames of their parents are combined. Previously, in most cases, women after marriage took their husbands' surnames, but now they mostly switch to a double one.

There are also Bulgarian patronymics. They differ from Russians by 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 be Ivanka Todorova Stoyanova. If a person’s surname is Ivanov, and his father’s name is Ivan, then the surname and patronymic will look the same in writing, but will differ in emphasis. In the patronymic it will be on the first syllable, and in the surname it will be on the second, respectively.

Unlike other Slavic countries, Bulgaria has preserved a large number of Old Church Slavonic 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 contributed greatly. Although, despite this, the fashion for international names is still growing. It’s too early to say whether they will be able to displace traditional ones.

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