Awesome Bulgarian Names

Commonly used in Russia, has an Old World Slavic feel. The original Galen can be used for girls as well as boys.

Irina is a Russian ballet-inflected classic, one of the Three Sisters in the Chekhov play. While some Americans will pronounce this like Irene with three syllables, the pronunciation used throughout Europe, where it's widely used, starts with a short i as in it or if and a strong emphasis on the second syllable.

A rarely used Slavic name until the Czech-born ex-Mrs. Trump took it over the top. Daughter's name Ivanka adds a dollop of charm.

High-profile First Daughter Trump bears a nickname for her mother's name, Ivana. But though quite common in Slavic countries, and despite its international appeal, Ivanka is likely to remain a Singe-Celebrity name in the US — the Oprah of the political world — for the foreseeable future. Ivanka's larger impact on names may be inspiring parents to name their daughters after their moms.

Kalina, known as a girls' name throughout Eastern Europe, translates literally to viburnum in Polish, making it a botanical name. Viburnum is a flowering shrub. Some sources translate this name as simply "flower." Variations may include Kaline, Kalena, and Kalene.

Katerina and its near-identical twin Katarina have a pleasingly lilting European sound, though for some Americans they may be uncomfortably close to Katrina, which will be linked for a long time to the hurricane that devastated New Orleans.

This streamlined form of a pretty and feminine classic may not be as popular as it once was, but it's never out of style. A royal name best used now in its full glory rather than as nicknames Kris or Kristy.

If it's possible for a name to be too musical, this one is.

Lilyana is variant of "Lillian" or "Liliana", which are elaborations of the flower name "Lily".

Malina is a synthetic-feeling name that may be a feminization of the Scottish Malcolm or a spelling twist on the Greek Melina and that also has a fruit meaning in several Eastern European languages. For all that it's a little bit of lots of things, Malina doesn't feel very much like itself.

Margarita is an international form of Margaret that shares its meaning of "pearl", but also directly translates to "daisy" in Spanish and Greek. Despite being widely associated with the alcoholic beverage in English, it has a long history of use in Spanish, Greek and several Slavic languages — most notably being the name of the heroine of Mikhail Bulgakov's 1966 novel Master and Margarita. It currently ranks in the Top 30 girl names in Russia.

This pretty sea-born name was used to dramatic effect by Shakespeare in his play Pericles for the virtuous princess who says she is "Call'd Marina, for I was born at sea."

Russian, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian form of the classic Maria sure to cause a lifetime of spelling questions and pronunciation mistakes.

Marko is one of the many names derived from Mars, the god of war. Marco is the more usual Spanish form but Marko is a variation used in Spain along with Russia, Ukraine, and several Slavic countries.