Антропонимия болгарских сел Одесской области Украинской ССР

The paper discusses the characteristic features of the names carried by Bulgarian inhabitants dwelling in South Ukraine. The material was excerpted from ancient registers belonging to ten Bulgarian village settlements in the Odessa County. It also reflects the author’s personal on-site investigations. Some general tendencies for bringing closer the Bulgarian and the Russian name inventory can be noticed. It has to be pointed out that while the registration files fixed down a unified name giving norm for Soviet citizens, the speech of the Bulgarian settlers has retained in active use some popular Bulgarian names. Among the factors which have influenced the choice of names are: traditions of usage, existence of colloquial name forms and euphony.