Bulgarians are increasingly boldly showing creativity when baptizing their children. Some of the traditional Bulgarian names are clearly changing with more modern sounding ones. Scientists from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences came to this conclusion after conducting research on how Bulgarians in different parts of the country baptized their children for 10 years.
What are the most unusual names?
These are names like Devaila, Dejanira, Zorinella, Kristiandra, Blagrada, Milozara, Tedislava, Radostian and Radayan.
Creativity with female names is definitely greater. The research that scientists from the BAS have done covers several regions across the country, observing how people baptize their children over the past 10 years.
In Sofia, for example, a favorite name is the female Sofia and the male Kaloyan. The researchers explain this with the nearby Boyan church, which has the image of Sebastokrator Kaloyan.
In Vidin, the names Christian and Alexander are favorites. And in Varna, perhaps logically, one of the most common names is Marina.
In Bulgaria, you know, since 2007 there are no restrictions on who can name their child. But some probably also remember the times when whitelists existed.
In some countries, there are still restrictions around names. Finland for example.
“In recent years, there has been a revival of names that connect us with our historical past – names of rulers. That is why names such as Samuil, Kaloyan, Tervel, Boris are chosen. The names Victoria and Nicole are the most popular female names in the whole country,” says in front of BNT ch. assistant professor Nadezhda Dancheva, Ph.D., “Onomastics” section, Institute of Bulgarian Language – BAS.
Ivanka and Stefka are increasingly rarely entered in the birth certificate. Instead, the parents choose Joanna and Stephanie. Years ago it might have sounded too extravagant, but today parents are choosing to create brand new names.
“Names such as Tsvetodara, Blagrada, Tsvetoslava, Zhivomir were formed according to this model. Hristo’s name appears further back, unlike Kristiyan. In the same way, Hristina, Hristinka do not occur. We have Christina, Krisia,” said head. Assistant Dr. Nadezhda Dancheva.
And although the import of foreign names has decreased, the list of names in the BAS also includes some stars.
“The use of names like Adele, Leo, Ronaldo is becoming more common,” says ch. Assistant Dr. Nadezhda Dancheva.
Researchers remember names like Salfetka or Kanarche, but in practice there is no forbidden name in our country and everything is left to the parents’ imagination.
In contrast to Finland, where a special committee makes a list of acceptable and unacceptable names.
“Every year, the commission bans about 30-40 names. Parents register their child, but if the administration sees something wrong with the name, they alert the commission and it makes a decision. Still, some names cause problems at school, cause ridicule, for example. Others not so much suitable for the Finnish language. They may sound great in another language, but in Finnish they are rude. And when two people come to the point of naming their child – it should be such that it does not embarrass them in the future,” said Ronan Brown , a Finnish journalist from YLE.
Some names go into the column forbidden from a religious point of view. Others just don’t sound moral to the committee.
“Sometimes even names of musicians are considered unlucky. For example, Lordi, the group that won a Eurovision. This year they banned parents from choosing this name, because they accepted that it was not suitable for children. There were also parents who wanted to name his child Puko Armo, which means sword, is associated with crime, so the commission categorically banned him,” says Ronan Brown.
As a reporter, Ronan has not covered protests related to these bans. Because there are none. Finns stick to the rules. In our country, there is only one rule with names – the court can allow an adult to change his name if he considers it to be ridiculous.
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