Capital : Sofia
This area near the Black Sea was on the edge of the Classical
Greek world when it was inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was
considered an uncivilised country even by the neighbouring Macedonians
who were seen as barbarians by the civilised Greeks. It was plundered
and partially settled by the Celts up to 200 BC and was conquered
by Rome to become the province of Thracia in AD 46. After the
fall of Rome, it was fought over by the Huns under Attila and
the Visigoths but part of it was recovered by the Byzantine or
East Roman Empire with the Bulgarian Empire being established
to the north.
In the C15th, it became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The
northern area became a principality in 1878 and independent in
1908, gaining Eastern Rumelia to the south in 1885 and parts of
Greece and Thrace in 1913. Greece regained Western Thrace in 1919
and the two countries were in conflict over Macedonia in 1925.
Bulgaria was an Axis satellite under Hitler's Reich and became
communist after WWII. It had free elections after the break-up
of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and made a associate agreement
with the EC by 1992.
The country has a Christian and Muslim (sometimes called Pomak)
population and names are taken from both religions. Slavonic borrowings
are also used.
| Alibrahim | Andrey | Angelar | Aspanuch | Boleslav | Bulchru |
| Daniel | Dimitar | Dimiter | Dimitur | Emil | Galin |
| Gavril | Gedeon | Georgi | Georgiu | Gorazd | Grisha |
| Halid | Hassan | Henrim | Hikmet | Hristo | Ilian |
| Illan | Jivko | Kosta | Krasimir | Krassimir | Kristo |
| Krum | Luboslav | Mehmet | Milko | Nikolay | Pencho |
| Petar | Petko | Rimvidas | Sabas | Sali | Sava |
| Symeon | Tervel | Timotei | Todor | Trifon | Tzanko |
| Vlado | Yany | Zlatko |
| Alekko | Dessislava | Ekaterina | Eliza | Ilyana | Inessa |
| Iurka | Iva | Lillia | Manuella | Maria | Mila |
| Monika | Nora | Petia | Petya | Rahil | Roumiana |
| Rumiana | Svetla | Tereza | Zlatka |
| Angelova | Antoaneta | Arnaut | Balakov | Balev | Billius |
| Blagoev | Bojilov | Borimirov | Botev | Bukhalov | Chernozemski |
| Choroleeva | Christova | Dimitrov | Dimitrova | Doritsch | Dounev |
| Filipov | Gachevska | Gatchevska | Georghiev | Georgieva | Gergieva |
| Ginchev | Grubo | Gruev | Guentchev | Gueorgiev | Hinova |
| Hlutev | Hubchev | Ignatieva | Iliev | Ivanov(a) | Jordanov |
| Jovtvev | Karavelov | Kiryakov | Kishishev | Kostov | Krumova |
| Krupova | Kubadinski | Lechkov | Levski | Liapchev | Lom |
| Lukanov | Lunchev | Maleeva | Marinova | Markhov | Michacoff |
| Mihailov | Mitkova | Mladenov | Paisi | Paskalev | Penchev |
| Pendareva | Penev | Petkov | Petrova | Popov | Prandjeva |
| Prandzheva | Raev | Rakovski | Rangelov | Sarac | Sirakov |
| Slovensky | Stambolieva | Stamboliski | Stancioff | Stanoytchev | Stoickkov |
| Stojanov | Stoyanov | Strashilova | Svetkova | Svetozar | Todorov |
| Todorova | Tontchev | Tsankov | Tsvetanov | Tzvetanovfs | Videnov |
| Vranchev | Vulchanova | Yankov | Yordanov | Yordanyotov | Yotov |
| Zdravkov | Zhivko | Zhivkov |
| Krum | -814 | ||
| Omortag | 814- | ||
| Boris I | c 864 | ||
| Vladimir | -893 | ||
| Symeon | 893-927 | brother of Vladimir | |
| Peter | c 927 | son of Symeon | |
| Boris II | -973 abd | ||
| Samuel | c 997 Tsar |
| Asen I | 1185-96 | ||
| Tsar Theodore/Peter | 1196-7 | brother of Asen | |
| Kalojan | 1197-1207 | brother of Peter | |
| Boril | 1207-18 dep | nephew of Kalojan | |
| John Asen II | 1218-41 | son of Asen I | |
| Koloman | 1241-6 | infant son of Asen II | |
| Michael Asen | 1246- | ||
| John Asen III | 1279-80 dep | ||
| George I Terter | 1280- | ||
| Michael Sisman | -1330 | ||
| John Alexander | 1330-61 | ||
| 2 sons | |||
| Turkish Rule | C15th on |
| Alexander I | 1879-86 abd | Battenberg | |
| Ferdinand | c 1912 | Coburg | |
| Boris | c 1934 |
Return to Eastern Europe index
This collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. Copyright January
1997, Kate Monk. Last updated February, 98. Copies may be made
for personal use only.