Bulgarian placename etymology is characterized by the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

through the ages and the position of the country in the centre of the region. While typical Bulgarian placenames of Slavic origin vastly dominate, toponyms which stem from

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

, Turkic,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, Celtic,

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

can also be encountered.

Slavic placenames

Slavic names account for the vast majority of toponyms on the territory of Bulgaria. Typical forms are: * with the neutral suffix ''-ово/-ево'' ('' -ovo/-evo''). This suffix is probably the most widespread one in Bulgaria. Examples:

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( bg, Габрово ) is a town in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an internatio ...

Haskovo Haskovo ( bg, Хасково ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Develo ...

Pamporovo Pamporovo ( bg, Пампорово, ''pronunciation'': /pam'porovo/) is a popular ski resort in Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. It is set amongst Norway spruce forests and is primarily visited during the winter for skiing and snowboarding. It ...

Sevlievo Sevlievo ( bg, Севлиево ) is a town in north-central Bulgaria, part of Gabrovo Province. Sevlievo is known as one of the wealthiest towns in Bulgaria owing to the well developed local economy, high employment rate and major foreign inve ...

. * with the masculine suffix ''-ец'' (''-ets''). Examples:

Pravets Pravets or Pravetz ( bg, Правец, also transliterated as Pravec, ) is a town in Pravets Municipality in central western Bulgaria, located approximately from the capital Sofia. Pravets is home town of Pravetz computers. Pravets has a populat ...

Borovets Borovets ( bg, Боровец ), known as Chamkoria ( ) until the middle of the 20th century, is a popular Bulgarian mountain resort situated in Sofia Province, on the northern slopes of Rila, at an altitude of 1350 m. Borovets is located app ...

, Kladenets,

Lyubimets Lyubimets ( bg, Любимец ) is a small town in Haskovo Province, southern-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Lyubimets Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 7,670 inhabitants.

. * with the feminine suffix ''-ица'' (''-itsa''). Examples:

Gorna Oryahovitsa Gorna Oryahovitsa ( bg, Горна Оряховица ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, situated in Veliko Tarnovo Province, from Veliko Tarnovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality. According to t ...

Dupnitsa Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( bg, Дупница (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot of the highest mountains in the Balkan Peninsula – the Rila Mountains, and about south of the capital Sofia. Dupnitsa is the second l ...

, Belitsa,

Koprivshtitsa Koprivshtitsa ( bg, Копривщица, pronounced , from the Bulgarian word , ''kopriva'', meaning "nettle") is a historic town in the Koprivshtitsa Municipality in Sofia Province, central Bulgaria, lying on the Topolnitsa River among the S ...

, Slivnitsa,

Perushtitsa Perushtitsa ( bg, Перущица ) or Perushtitza is a Bulgarian town located in Perushtitsa Municipality, Plovdiv Province at the foot of the Rhodopes, 22 kilometers south of Plovdiv. The name ''Perushtitsa'' comes from the word ''Peristits ...

Berkovitsa Berkovitsa ( bg, Берковица ) is a town and ski resort in northwestern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Berkovitsa Municipality, Montana Province and is close to the town of Varshets. , it has a population of 13 ...

Kosharitsa Kosharitsa () is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, near Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. It is in Nesebar Municipality of Burgas Province Burgas Province ( bg, Област Бургас, translit=Oblast Burgas, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a prov ...

. * with the suffixes ''-инци'' (''-intsi''), ''-овци'' (''-ovtsi''), and ''-ци'' (''-tsi''), which indicate the name, occupation or some other characteristic feature of the family or families that founded the settlement. Examples:

Chiprovtsi Chiprovtsi ( bg, Чипровци, pronounced ) is a small town in northwestern Bulgaria, administratively part of Montana Province. It lies on the shores of the river Ogosta in the western Balkan Mountains, very close to the Bulgarian-Serbian b ...

, Boychinovtsi, Apriltsi,

Priseltsi Priseltsi - Burgas Province ( bg, Приселци) is a village in South- East Bulgaria, situated in Obshtina Nessebar, in the Burgas region. Priseltsi is an 8km/10 minute drive from the town of Obzor, a seaside town with much development in pr ...

Brusartsi Brusartsi ( bg, Брусарци ) is a town in Northwestern Bulgaria. It is located in Montana Province and is 23 km away from the town of Lom. The town is the administrative center of the homonymous Brusartsi Municipality. As of December 2 ...

, Batanovtsi. * with the suffix ''-град'' (''- grad''), which is used for mediaeval fortified settlements and modern cities. -grad is a very common suffix in southern Bulgaria due to the widespread renaming of towns that carried Turkish or Greek names. Many towns now have names that follow the established pattern, but are dedicated to Bulgarian rulers, national heroes or prominent people, such as

Botevgrad Botevgrad ( bg, Ботевград ) is a town in western Bulgaria. It is located in Sofia Province and is close to Pravets. Botevgrad lies 47 km from Sofia. History and name The village was called Samundzhievo (Самунджиево) unti ...

(formerly ''Orhanie''),

Asenovgrad Asenovgrad ( bg, Асеновград ) is a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province. It is the largest town in Bulgaria that is not a province center. Previously known as ''Stanimaka'' (; el, Στενήμαχος), it was ...

(formerly ''Stanimaka'') and

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

(formerly ''Gorna Dzhumaya''). Other examples:

Zlatograd Zlatograd ( bg, Златоград, , ) is a town in Smolyan Province, southern-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Zlatograd Municipality. In December 2009, the town had a population of 7,110.Svilengrad,

Razgrad Razgrad ( bg, Разград ) is a city in Northeastern Bulgaria in the valley of the Beli Lom river that falls within the historical and geographical region of Ludogorie (Deliorman). It is an administrative center of Razgrad Province. Etymolog ...

. * with the masculine suffixes ''-ник'' (''-nik'') and ''-чик'' (''-chik''). Examples:

Pernik Pernik ( bg, Перник ) is a town in western Bulgaria (about south-west of Sofia) with a population of 70,285 . Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province and lies on both bank ...

Balchik Balchik ( bg, Балчик ; ro, Balcic) is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km northeast of Varna. It spr ...

Belogradchik Belogradchik ( bg, Белоградчик ) is a town in Vidin Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of the homonymous Belogradchik Municipality. The town, whose name literally means "small white town," is situated in the fo ...

, Melnik, Breznik. * with the neutral suffix ''-ино'' (''-ino''). Examples: Ardino,

Nedelino Nedelino ( bg, Неделино ) is a town and municipality in the Rhodope Mountains of the Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Sou ...

, Nevestino. * with the masculine suffix ''-ен'' (''-en''). Examples: Pleven,

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

Kuklen Kuklen ( bg, Куклен ) is a town in southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province. It is located 7 km to the south of the nearest major city, Plovdiv, and is approximately 140 km south east of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Kuklen wa ...

Teteven Teteven ( bg, Тетевен, ) is a town on the banks of the Vit river, at the foot of Stara Planina mountain in north central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Teteven Municipality which is a part of Lovech Province. As of Decemb ...

, Kiten. * with the neutral suffix ''-ище'' (''-ishte''). Examples:

Targovishte Targovishte ( bg, Търговище, also transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , tr, Eski Cuma) is a city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of ...

, Bozhurishte,

Panagyurishte Panagyurishte ( bg, Панагюрище, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of P ...

. * with other or without suffixes. Examples: Tran,

Belene Belene ( bg, Белене ) is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the town of Svishtov. Ge ...

, Dobrich,

Rudozem Rudozem ( bg, Рудозем ) is a town in southern Bulgaria, near the Greek border, located in the Rhodope Mountains, where the Elhovo and Chepino rivers flow into the Arda, and is part of Smolyan Province. It is the administrative centre of the ...

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...

, Beloslav, Svishtov,

Razlog Razlog ( bg, Разлог ) is a town and ski resort in Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the Razlog Valley and was first mentioned during the reign of Byzantine emperor Basil II. The municipali ...

Troyan Troyan ( bg, Троян ) is a town remembering the name of Roman Emperor Trajan, in Lovech Province in central Bulgaria with population of 21,997 inhabitants, as of December 2009. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Troyan Muni ...

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

Byala Slatina Byala Slatina ( bg, Бяла Слатина ) is a town in Northwestern Bulgaria. It is located in Vratsa Province Vratsa Province ( bg, Област Враца ''Oblast Vraca'', former name Vraca okrug) is a Bulgarian province located in th ...

Bankya Bankya ( bg, Банкя ) is a small town located on the outskirts of Sofia in western Bulgaria. It is administratively part of Greater Sofia. The district is famous for the mineral springs and baths that have been used for medicinal purposes fo ...

. Slavic names often appear in pairs, wherever two places were historically related, or happen to have the same name. Examples: Stara Zagora and

Nova Zagora Nova Zagora ( bg, Нова Загора ) is a town located in the southeastern plains of Bulgaria in Sliven Province. It is the administrative centre of Nova Zagora Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 19,562 inhabita ...

(old/new),

and

Malko Tarnovo Malko Tarnovo ( bg, Малко Търново , "Little Tarnovo"; as opposed to Veliko Tarnovo) is a town in Burgas Province, southeastern Bulgaria, 5 km from the Turkish border. It is the only town in the interior of the Bulgarian Strandz ...

(great/small), Gorni Bogrov and Dolni Bogrov (upper/lower). ''Nov'', ''novi'', ''nova'', and ''novo'' (meaning "new") are also frequent, as many places were depopulated during

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

and later rebuilt. Examples: Novo Selo (9 villages are named thus), Novi Pazar. Nevertheless, the presence of "new" does not guarantee that the settlement has ever been destroyed — it may have been founded by settlers from another village who wished to retain the name, for example.

Turkish placenames

Bulgaria was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

for 500 years, and Turkish placenames were widespread in southern and northeastern Bulgaria. However, most of them were changed in the 20th century. Examples:

Kardzhali Kardzhali ( bg, Кърджали , ''Kărdžali''; tr, Kırcaali; gr, Κάρτζαλι, ''Kártzali''), sometimes spelt Kardžali or Kurdzhali, is a town in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria, centre of Kardzhali Municipality and Kardzhali Pro ...

(''Kırca Ali'', partially Arabic through Hebrew),

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountai ...

(''Kazanlık''),

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik i ...

(''Pazarcık''),

Kyustendil Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...

(''Köstendil''),

Buzludzha Buzludzha ( bg, Бузлуджа ) is a historical peak in the Central Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria. The mountain is located to the east of the Shipka Pass near the town of Kazanlak and is a site of historical importance. The peak is high. It was ...

(''Buzluca'').

Hisarya Hisarya ( bg, Хисаря , also known as ''Hisar'', ''Hissar'' or ''Hissarya'', formerly: Toplitsa) is a small resort town in Bulgaria, in Plovdiv Province. Hisar means 'fort, castle' in Arabic. The word was adopted in Persian and Ottoman Tur ...

Harmanli Harmanli ( bg, Харманли , tr, Harmanlı) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Harmanli Municipality. Near the site of Hamanli in Late Antiquity, during the early 4th- ...

(''Harmanlı''), Dolni Chiflik (''Aşağı Çiftlik''), Dzhebel (''Cebel'').

Greek placenames

There is a certain number of Greek names, mostly in southern Bulgaria along the

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coast ...

, which stem from ancient

poleis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

and towns. Examples:

Ahtopol Ahtopol ( bg, Ахтопол , ) is a town and seaside resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Geography Location It is located on a headland in the southeastern part of Burgas Province and is close to the border with European Turk ...

Sozopol Sozopol ( bg, Созопол , el, Σωζόπολη, translit=Sozopoli) is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for th ...

, Nikopol,

Nesebar Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, bg, Несебър, pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative cen ...

(a Slavicized version of the Hellenized Thracian name ''Menebria'', later ''Messembria''),

Provadiya Provadia ( bg, Провадия ) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province, located in a deep karst gorge (Provadia syncline) along the Provadiya River not far from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centr ...

Latin placenames

An amount of names from

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

has also survived until today, many of them being Roman versions of former Greek or Thracian ones. Some Latin names had fallen into disuse long ago, but were revived in the 20th century. Examples:

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, Lom (a Slavicized version of Latin ''Almus''), Archar (a Slavicized version of Latin ''Raciaria''), Drastar (nowadays Silistra), derived from ''Durostorum'', Nikopol and

Nikyup Nikyup is a village in Northern Bulgaria, in Veliko Tarnovo Province (Oblast Veliko Tarnovo), 194 km east of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital. The closest airport is in Gorna Oryahovitsa, 15 kilometers southeast. Geography Nikyup is situated on ...

, derived from ''Nicopolis'', Dzherman, derived from ''Germania'', etc. The old Bulgarian name for

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, ''Sredets'', was also derived from ''Sardica'' (''Serdica''). Some names of

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

origin date to later times and are ascribed to the Balkan Latin (

Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

) population, several examples being Vakarel, Pasarel, Banishor, Gurgulyat.

Other placenames

There are a number of ancient placenames from other languages, including Thracian or Dacian, such as Plovdiv, derived from ''Pulpudeva'' (itself derived from ''Philipoppolis''),

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Celtic, such as

from ''Dunonia'' and ''Bononia''. The placename

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

of the non-metathesized group CorC bears witness of

Old Bulgarian Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and othe ...

's preliterate period – or perhaps stemming from a more ancient

Proto-Indo-European root The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) are basic parts of words that carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots usually have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the lan ...

References

* {{cite book, last=Чолева-Димитрова, first=Анна М., title=Селищни имена от Югозападна България: Изследване. Речник, publisher=Пенсофт, location=София, year=2002, isbn=954-642-168-5, oclc=57603720, language=Bulgarian * Place name etymologies