There are several different layers of Bulgarian names. The vast majority of them have either Christian (names like Lazar, Ivan, Anna, Maria, Ekaterina) or Slavic origin (Vladimir, Svetoslav, Velislava). After the Liberation in 1878, the names of historical Bulgar rulers like Asparuh, Krum, Kubrat and Tervel have again been resurrected. The old Bulgar name Boris has spread from Bulgaria to a number of countries in the world with Russian Tsar Boris Godunov and German tennis player Boris Becker being two of the examples of its use.

Most Bulgarian male surnames have the surname suffix -ov (bulg: -ов;). This is often transcribed as -off. (John Atanasov-John Atanasoff) The suffix -ov is the Slavic possessive case suffix, thus Ivanov (Bulgarian:Иванов) really means Ivan's. Bulgarian middle names use the possessive case suffix as well, thus Nikola's son's middle name becomes Nikolov, and Ivan's son's middle name becomes Ivanov. Since names in Bulgarian are gender based, Bulgarian women have the surname suffix -ova (bulg: -овa), for example Maria Ivanova. The plural form of Bulgarian names ends in -ovi ((bulg: -ови), for example the Ivanovi family (Bulgarian: Иванови).

Other common Bulgarian male surnames have the surname suffix -ev (bulg: -ев), for example Stoev, Ganchev, Peev, and so on. The female surname in this case would have the surname suffix -eva (Bulgarian: -ева), for example Galina Stoeva. The last name of the entire family then would have the plural form of -evi (Bulgarian: -еви), for example The Stoevi family (Bulgarian: Стоеви).

Another typical Bulgarian surname suffix, though much less common, is -ski. This surname ending also gets an additional –a when the bearer of the name is female (Smirnenski becomes Smirnenska). The plural form of the surname suffix -ski is still -ski, e.g. the Smirnenski familiy (Bulgarian: Смирненски).

The surname suffix -ich can be found sometimes, primarily among Catholic Bulgarians. The ending –in also appears sometimes, though rather seldom. It used to be given to the child of an unmarried woman (for example the son of Kuna will get the surname Kunin and the son of Gana – Ganin). The surname ending –ich does not get an additional –a if the bearer of the name is female.