Samundžievo ---> Orhanie (1866-1934) ---> Botevgrad
Etymologies uncertain, Botevgrad meaning 'City of Botev'
Hacıoğlu Pazarcık ---> Dobrič (1882)
- Hacıoğlu Pazarcık referring to the 16th century merchant who founded the modern settlement
- Dobrič named after the 14th century Dobrujan ruler, Dobrotitsa
Ortaköy ---> Ivaylograd (1912?)
- Etymology of Ortaköy uncertain
- Ivaylograd meaning 'City of Ivaylo', named after the Bulgarian Tsar from the 13th century
Pautalia ---> Velbazhd (Middle Ages) ---> Köstendil (Ottoman period) ---> Kyustendil (1878?)
- Pautalia meaning 'town of springs' in Thracian
- Velbazhd meaning 'camel' in Old Macedonian?
- Köstendil meaning 'County of Constantine' in reference to the lands ruled by Konstantin Dejanović. Kyustendil is a Bulgarian transliteration of this.
Kutlovica ---> Kutlofça (Ottoman period) ---> Ferdinand (1890) ---> Mihaylovgrad (1945) ---> Montana (1993)
- Etymology of Kutlovia uncertain but of Old Macedonian origin. Kutlofça is a Turkish transliteration of this
- Ferdinand named after Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
- Mihaylovgrad meaning 'City of Mihaylov', named after Communist activist Hristo Mihaylov
- Montana deriving from the Latin 'mons' meaning 'mountain', named after the nearby Roman settlement
Melsambria ---> Misivri (?) ---> Nesebǎr (?)
Etymologies uncertain, Melsambria possibly meaning 'city of Melsas' in Thracian
Tatar Pazardzhik ---> Pazardzhik (?)
- Pazardzhik from the word 'pazar' which comes from the Persian 'bāzār' meaning 'market' and the Turkic suffix '-cık' meaning 'small': Small Market. Tartar referring to the people who founded the settlement in 1485
Sexaginta Prista ---> Golyamo Yorgovo (Middle Ages) ---> Rusçuk (Ottoman rule) ---> Ruse (1878)
- Sexaginta meaning '60' in Latin and Prista referring to a special type of ship in Koiné
- Golyamo Yorgovo meaning 'Great/Big Yorgovo' in Old Macedonian. Unsure of what 'Yorgovo' means
- Rusçuk meaning 'little Ruse' in Turkish, transliterated into Bulgarian as Ruse. Multiple etymological theories to where the name stems from.
Šimeonis ---> Şumnu (Ottoman period) ---> Šumen (1878?) ---> Kolarovgrad (1950-1965)
- Šimeonis believed to be either derived from the Old Macedonain word for decidious forest, 'šuma' or named after Simeon the Great. Transliterated into Turkish as Şumnu and into Bulgarian as Šumen.
- Kolarovgrad meaning 'City of Kolarov', named after Communist leader Vasil Kolarov
Durostorum --> Dorostol --> Drǎstǎr ---> Silistre (Ottoman period) ---> Silistra (1878?)
- Durostorum of Thracian origin, meaning uncertain. Dorostol and Drǎstǎr later transliterations
- Silistre possibly from the Thracian name for the lower part of the Danube, 'Istrum' or Latin 'silo' and 'stra' meaning 'awl' and 'strategy' respectively. Silistre is a Bulgarian transliteration of the Turkish name.
Paşmaklı/Ahiçelebi (1867) ---> Smolyan (1912)
Etymology uncertain, Smolyan likely named after the Smolyani tribe
Ulpia Serdica ---> Srědecǎ (Middle Ages) ---> Sofya (Ottoman period) ---> Sofia (1879)
- Serdica is of Thracian origin and is named after the Serdi people. Ulpia is the Umbrian cognate of the Latin 'Iupus' meaning wolf. Srědecǎ is related to 'sreda' meaning 'middle'.
- Sofya (and subsequently the Bulgarian transliteration Sofia) is derivied from the church of St. Sofia constructed in the Early Middle Ages. It is believed the word ultimately derives from the Egyptian word 'sbĊ' meaning 'star, door, teaching or wisdom' and was transliterated as 'sophia' in Koiné.
- Byzantine sources also refer to the city as Serdonpolis ('City of the Serdi') and Triaditza ('Trinity'). Famous Moorish geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi referred to the city as Atralissa. Crusaders referred to the city as Strelisa, Stralitsa or Stratlitsion, all ultimately derived from the Thracian name.
Vasiliko ---> Vasilikoz (Ottoman period) ---> Carevo (1937) ---> Mičurin (1950-1991)
- Vasiliko meaning 'royal palace' in Romaika and transliterated as Vasilikoz in Turkish. Carevo also meaning 'royal palace' in Bulgarian.
- Mičurin named after Russian botanist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin
Tǎrnovgrad ---> Tǎrnovo ---> Tırnova (Ottoman period) ---> Veliko Tǎrnovo (1965)
- All names possibly stem from the Old Macedonian word for 'thorny', trǎnevǎ. Veliko prefix meaning 'great' added to honor the city's high status.
Leave a comment: