Bulgarian Alphabet to English: Letter-by-Letter Guide

Bulgarian alphabet to English conversion has an official answer: the Streamlined System, set out in Bulgaria’s Transliteration Act of 2009. It gives each of the 30 Cyrillic letters a fixed Latin equivalent, from “a” for а to “ya” for я. The same system is used in Bulgarian passports, on road signs and, since 2012, by the United Nations for Bulgarian place names.

The converter above applies the official rules automatically. Below is the letter-by-letter table, the few special rules, and the places where English readers are most often caught out.

Bulgarian alphabet to English: letter-by-letter table

The middle column is the official Latin spelling. The right column is the nearest English sound, which is not always the same thing.

Bulgarian	Official Latin	English sound
А а	a	“a” in “father”
Б б	b	“b”
В в	v	“v”
Г г	g	hard “g” in “go”
Д д	d	“d”
Е е	e	“e” in “bet”
Ж ж	zh	“s” in “measure”
З з	z	“z”
И и	i	“ee” in “see”
Й й	y	“y” in “boy”
К к	k	“k”
Л л	l	“l”
М м	m	“m”
Н н	n	“n”
О о	o	“o” in British “lot”
П п	p	“p”
Р р	r	tapped “r”
С с	s	“s”
Т т	t	“t”
У у	u	“oo” in “food”
Ф ф	f	“f”
Х х	h	“ch” in “loch”
Ц ц	ts	“ts” in “cats”
Ч ч	ch	“ch” in “chair”
Ш ш	sh	“sh” in “shop”
Щ щ	sht	“sht” in “fresh tea”
Ъ ъ	a	“u” in “but” (approx.)
Ь ь	y	softens the consonant before о
Ю ю	yu	“you”
Я я	ya	“ya” in “yard”

Most letters map to one Latin letter. Seven use two or three (zh, ts, ch, sh, sht, yu, ya), and three reuse a Latin letter that is already taken: й and ь are both y, and ъ is a. For the sounds behind each letter, see the Bulgarian alphabet pronunciation guide.

The special rules

Most Bulgarian words convert one letter at a time. A short list of rules covers the exceptions:

• Word-final -ия becomes “-ia.” София is Sofia, not “Sofiya,” and Мария is Maria. Elsewhere in a word ия is “iya.”
• България is “Bulgaria.” The country name keeps its traditional spelling instead of the strict “Balgaria.”
• дж is “dzh” and дз is “dz.” джоб (dzhob, pocket) starts with the “j” of “jam.”
• йо and ьо are both “yo.” шофьор becomes shofyor.

The -ia rule started as a 2006 ordinance for personal and geographical names. The 2009 Act extended it to every word that ends in -ия.

The law behind the Bulgarian alphabet to English system

The Transliteration Act was promulgated by presidential decree on 9 March 2009 and published in State Gazette No. 19 on 13 March 2009. A paper Bulgaria presented to the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names lists where the rules are mandatory:

• identity cards, passports and driving licenses
• signs for towns, streets and landmarks
• maps, publishing and official correspondence
• the national register of geographical names

The UN adopted the system for Bulgarian geographical names in 2012, and the US and UK naming authorities (BGN/PCGN) followed in 2013. If you see a Bulgarian town on an international map today, it is almost certainly spelled this way: Горна Оряховица is Gorna Oryahovitsa and Стара планина is Stara planina.

Practice Bulgarian alphabet to English with place names

Try converting these yourself before reading the answer. Each one uses at least one of the tricky letters.

Cyrillic	Official Latin	Letter to watch
Велико Търново	Veliko Tarnovo	ъ as a
Благоевград	Blagoevgrad	е as e, not “ye”
Шумен	Shumen	ш as sh
Хасково	Haskovo	х as h
Перник-север	Pernik-sever	р and н as r and n

Transliteration is not translation

Going from the Bulgarian alphabet to English letters does not change meaning. Transliteration turns хляб into “hlyab,” which tells you how to say it. Translation turns it into “bread,” which tells you what it means. Road signs use transliteration because place names are not translated: Пловдив stays Plovdiv in every language.

The UN paper notes one exception for geographic terms. Standalone terms are translated, so Нос Емине becomes Cape Emine. But when the term is part of a name, it is transliterated: Централен Балкан is Tsentralen Balkan.

Where the Latin spelling loses information

The Streamlined System is designed for reading names, not for getting the Cyrillic back. Three gaps matter:

• ъ and а are both “a.” “Tarnovo” could in theory be Тарново or Търново; only Търново is right.
• й and ь are both “y.”
• “zh,” “sh” and “ts” can be one letter or two. изход (exit) is “izhod,” where “zh” is з plus х, not ж.

That is why the converter’s Latin-to-Cyrillic direction is marked as a best guess. For the full background, compare systems on the Cyrillic to Latin page.

Common mistakes converting the Bulgarian alphabet to English

• Writing щ as “shch” or “sch.” That is the Russian convention. Bulgarian is “sht”: Щастие is Shtastie. See the letter Щ page.
• Writing ъ as “u,” “ŭ” or an apostrophe. Older and academic systems did this; the official system uses “a.”
• Writing х as “kh.” Bulgarian uses plain “h”: Хасково is Haskovo.
• Writing ц as “c” or “tz.” The official form is “ts.”
• Using “j” for й, ю or я. The official forms are y, yu and ya.
• Adding “-iya” at the end of names. Юлия is Yulia.

To go the other way and write an English name in Cyrillic, see your name in Bulgarian. The detailed legal and passport rules are on the Bulgarian transliteration page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the official way to write the Bulgarian alphabet in English letters?

The Streamlined System of the 2009 Transliteration Act. It is mandatory for Bulgarian official documents and signs, and the UN and BGN/PCGN use it for place names.

Why is Ъ written as ‘a’ in the Bulgarian alphabet to English system?

The Streamlined System simply assigns ‘a’ to Ъ, so Търново becomes Tarnovo. The trade-off is that Ъ and А look the same once written in Latin letters.

Why is София spelled Sofia and not Sofiya?

The Transliteration Act turns word-final -ия into -ia. Inside a word, ия is written iya.

Is Щ ‘sht’ or ‘shch’?

In Bulgarian it is ‘sht’, both in sound and in the official spelling. ‘Shch’ is the Russian convention.

Does the Bulgarian passport use this transliteration?

Yes. Identity cards, passports and driving licenses are among the documents where the Streamlined System is mandatory.

Sources

• Romanization System in Bulgaria (UNGEGN, E/CONF.101/12)
• Romanization of Bulgarian (Wikipedia)
• Bulgarian alphabet (Wikipedia)

Keep exploring