The National Statistical Institute (NSI) released preliminary data on Bulgarian names on Tuesday.

At the end of 2014 the personal names of those permanently residing in the country are of more than 68 000 types.

The variation of female names is greater than among men.

The personal names of women are of more than 38 000 different types, while men have around 30 000 different personal names.

The most common names among men are Georgi – with 171 000 people bearing this name, followed by Ivan and Dimitar.

Other common male names are Nikolay, Petar, Hristo, Aleksandar, Stefan, Yordan, Vasil and others.

From all men in the country 37.9 % of them bear the 20 most common personal names.

The most common Muslim names among men are Mehmed, Ahmed and Mustafa.

The variety among the names of women is much more diverse,with only 19.3 % of them bearing the 20 most popular personal names.

The most common female name is Maria – with 120 000 women bearing this name, followed by Ivanka, Elena and Yordanka.

Among the 20 most common female names are traditional Bulgarian names such as Penka, Mariyka, Rositsa, Desislava, Petya, Gergana, Violeta, Margarita, Nadezhda, and others.

The most common female Muslim names are Fatme, Ayshe and Emine.

The trend for greater variety among female names is also valid for the newborn ones in 2014, with girls having 3278 different names, while boys bear 2811 names.

For a third year in a row, the most preferred names among newborn boys are Georgi and Aleksandar, respectively 1249 and 1222 children bearing these two names.

Traditional Bulgarian names dominate among the 20 most common names of newborn boys, such as Ivan, Dimitar, Nikola, Kaloyan, Boris, Stefan, but names such as Yordan, Vasil, Todor and Atanas , which are among the most common among men in general, are lacking.

In 2014 the most preferred name for newborn girls remains Viktoria with 931 girls bearing this name, followed by Nikol, Maria and Aleksandra.

Among the 20 most common names of newborn girls are Gabriela, Daria, Yoana, Raya, Sofia, Simona and Elena.

The most common Muslim names among newborn girls are Emir and Mert, while Elif and Melek are most common among the boys.

Most Bulgarians celebrate their name day on Palm Sunday, which is known as Tsvetnitsa in Bulgaria, when all people containing a flower element in their names celebrate.

Among the most celebrated name days are also Ivanovden (St. John's Day on January 7) and Stefanovden (St. Stephen's Day on December 27).