Bulgarian Name Days are the Bulgarian expression of a custom practiced in most countries in which the Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox religion is the official denomination.
A Name Day is a day of the year set aside on the calendar of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to celebrate the name and life of a certain Saint. Everyone named after that specific saint has cause for celebration, somewhat similar to a large scale birthday.
Some name days are associated with certain specific traditions. For example, on St. Nick's Day a stuffed carp has to be cooked and served at dinner, while on St. George's Day a lamb must be prepared.
Even though name days in general are usually associated with saints in Bulgaria some of them are in honor of important figures from the history of Bulgaria.

December 5 - Name day for Silviya, Stanislav
December 6 - Nikolov den
December 9 - Name day for Ana
December 17 - Name day for Dana, Danail, Daniela
December 24 - Name day for Evgeni, Evgeniya
December 25 - Name day for Hristo, Hristiana
December 27 - Stefanov den

January 1 - Vasilov den
January 6 - Yordanov den
January 7 - Ivanov den
January 17 - Antonov den
January 18 - Atanasov den
January 20 - Name day for Evtim
January 21 - Name day for Maksim
January 25 - Name day for Grigor

February 1 - Trifonov den
February 3 - Simeonov den
February 6 - Svetliov den
February 10 - Valentinov den
February 13 - Name day for Evlogi
February 28 - Todorov den

March 1 - Name day for Marta, Martin
March 13 - Nikiforov den
March 22 - Name day for Rosen, Rositsa
March 25 - Name day for Blagovest
March 28 - Name day for Boyko, Boyana

By Daphne Karcheva-Orris

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