Bulgarian Transliteration: The Official Streamlined System
Bulgarian transliteration is the conversion of Bulgarian Cyrillic into Latin letters. The official method is the Streamlined System, made mandatory by the Transliteration Act of 2009: ж = zh, ц = ts, щ = sht, ъ = a, and word-final -ия = ia, so София becomes Sofia. Passports, maps and road signs use it.
What Bulgarian transliteration means
Bulgarian transliteration is the process of writing Bulgarian Cyrillic in Latin letters, one letter (or letter group) at a time. Since 2009 Bulgaria has had a single official way to do it: the Streamlined System, made mandatory by the Transliteration Act. You see it on passports, road signs, maps and official websites.
Transliteration is not translation. Пловдив (Plovdiv) stays a city name; only the script changes. It is also not a pronunciation guide. The Latin spelling is designed to be readable for English speakers, but it does not mark stress or vowel reduction. For sounds, see the Bulgarian alphabet pronunciation guide.
The Transliteration Act of 2009
Bulgaria’s National Assembly passed the Transliteration Act (Закон за транслитерацията) in 2009. It was published in the State Gazette No. 19 of 13 March 2009. Bulgaria’s own report to the United Nations lists who must use it: the state administration, plus any company or person who romanizes names in official documents, maps, publications, signs for towns and streets, and the register of geographical names. That report is available on the UN statistics site.
The system has two special rules on top of the letter table:
- Word-final -ия becomes -ia. София is Sofia, not Sofiya. Мария is Maria. The rule applies only at the end of a word, so Илияна (Iliyana) keeps the y.
- The country name follows tradition. България is written Bulgaria, not Balgaria, even though ъ is normally a.
The UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names endorsed the system in 2012, and the US and UK naming boards (BGN/PCGN) adopted it in 2013, replacing their 1952 system. So the spelling on a Bulgarian road sign now matches the spelling on British and American government maps.
Bulgarian transliteration table
Here is the full Streamlined System for Bulgarian transliteration, with a real place name or personal name for each letter. Press the play button to hear the Bulgarian word, if your device has a Bulgarian voice.
| Letter | Latin | Example | Romanized |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | a | Александър | Aleksandar |
| Б б | b | Бургас | Burgas |
| В в | v | Варна | Varna |
| Г г | g | Габрово | Gabrovo |
| Д д | d | Добрич | Dobrich |
| Е е | e | Елена | Elena |
| Ж ж | zh | Жеравна | Zheravna |
| З з | z | Златоград | Zlatograd |
| И и | i | Ивайло | Ivaylo |
| Й й | y | Йордан | Yordan |
| К к | k | Казанлък | Kazanlak |
| Л л | l | Ловеч | Lovech |
| М м | m | Мелник | Melnik |
| Н н | n | Несебър | Nesebar |
| О о | o | Огняново | Ognyanovo |
| П п | p | Пловдив | Plovdiv |
| Р р | r | Русе | Ruse |
| С с | s | Сливен | Sliven |
| Т т | t | Търговище | Targovishte |
| У у | u | Узана | Uzana |
| Ф ф | f | Филип | Filip |
| Х х | h | Хасково | Haskovo |
| Ц ц | ts | Цветелина | Tsvetelina |
| Ч ч | ch | Чепеларе | Chepelare |
| Ш ш | sh | Шумен | Shumen |
| Щ щ | sht | Свищов | Svishtov |
| Ъ ъ | a | Кърджали | Kardzhali |
| Ь ь | y | Гьоте | Gyote |
| Ю ю | yu | Юлиан | Yulian |
| Я я | ya | Ямбол | Yambol |
Capital letters follow the same table. A multi-letter value takes a capital only on its first letter when it starts a normal word: Шумен is Shumen, and Жеравна is Zheravna. In all-caps text, every letter is capitalized: SHUMEN.
Letters that trip people up
Ъ is written as a
The letter ъ is a vowel in Bulgarian, roughly the sound in English “but” or the first vowel of “about” ([ɤ] or [ə]). The official system writes it as plain a. That is why Търново is Tarnovo and Кърджали is Kardzhali. Older maps used u or ŭ (Turnovo), which you still see in older books.
Щ is sht
Bulgarian щ is pronounced [ʃt], like “sht” in “pushed tight”. The Latin form is sht: Свищов is Svishtov. It is never shch, which is the Russian and Ukrainian value.
Й and Ь are both y
Й ([j]) and the rare ь (which softens the consonant before о) both become y. So Йордан is Yordan. This makes the system easy to read but not reversible: you cannot always tell which Cyrillic letter a y came from.
Х is h, Ц is ts
Х ([x], like Scottish “loch”) is written h, as in Haskovo and Hristo. Ц is ts, as in Tsvetelina. Before 2009 some documents used c for ц, which English readers tended to say as “k”.
Bulgarian transliteration for passports and names
Bulgarian passports and ID cards use the same Bulgarian transliteration rules. A person named Христо Стоичков appears as Hristo Stoichkov. Because the system is fixed, two clerks will produce the same spelling, which matters for visas, bank records and airline tickets.
Some families have a long-standing Latin spelling that differs from the table, often from earlier documents or life abroad. Bulgarian rules allow a person to keep an established Latin form of their own name in some cases, so check with the issuing office before assuming a passport must change. Brand names also keep their traditional spellings.
If you are going the other way, writing an English name in Cyrillic, the logic is different. You spell the sounds, not the letters. Our guide to writing your name in Bulgarian covers that.
How it compares with other systems
The Streamlined System is built for English readers: no diacritics, so it works on any keyboard. Academic linguists sometimes still use the older scientific transliteration, with letters like ž, č, š and ă. Library catalogs may use ALA-LC, and the international standard ISO 9 maps every Cyrillic letter to exactly one Latin letter so text can be converted back. A side-by-side comparison is on the Cyrillic to Latin page.
For learning purposes, Bulgarian transliteration is a fine reading aid. Once you know the Bulgarian letters themselves, you will rarely need it.
Common mistakes
- Using Russian values. Writing щ as shch or ъ as a silent hard sign. In Bulgarian, щ is sht and ъ is a full vowel written a.
- Forgetting the -ия rule. Sofiya and Mariya are wrong in official use; write Sofia and Maria.
- Applying -ia in the middle of a word. Илияна is Iliyana, not Iliana.
- Writing ц as c or tz. The official value is ts.
- Treating the Latin form as pronunciation. Tarnovo starts with the vowel of “but”, not the “a” of “car”.
- Mixing scripts. Cyrillic а, е, о, р, с look like Latin letters but are different characters. Copy-pasting a “Latin” name that secretly contains Cyrillic letters breaks searches and forms.
To check a spelling quickly, paste the Cyrillic into the converter at the top of this page. It applies the full 2009 table and the -ия rule automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What is the official Bulgarian transliteration system?
It is the Streamlined System, made mandatory for official use by the Transliteration Act published in March 2009. The UN endorsed it in 2012 and BGN/PCGN adopted it in 2013.
Why is София written Sofia and not Sofiya?
The Act has a special rule: the letters -ия at the end of a word are written -ia. Inside a word, я stays ya.
How do you transliterate Ъ in Bulgarian?
Ъ is written as a, so Търново is Tarnovo. The only exception is the country name България, which is written Bulgaria.
Is Щ shch or sht in Bulgarian?
In Bulgarian it is sht, matching the pronunciation [ʃt]. Shch is the Russian and Ukrainian value.
Can I convert Latin back to Cyrillic exactly?
Not always. The Streamlined System writes both й and ь as y and both ъ and а as a, so the reverse direction is a best guess. Use ISO 9 if you need a reversible form.
Sources
- Romanization System in Bulgaria (UN conference paper, 2012)
- Romanization of Bulgarian, BGN/PCGN 2013 (UK government)
- Romanization of Bulgarian (Wikipedia)