# Bulgarian Americans

Bulgarian Americans are Americans of full or partial Bulgarian descent.
For the 2000 United States Census, 55,489 Americans indicated Bulgarian as their first ancestry, while 92,841 persons declared to have Bulgarian ancestry. Those can include Bulgarian Americans living in the United States for one or several generations, dual Bulgarian American citizens, or any other Bulgarian Americans who consider themselves to be affiliated to both cultures or countries.
Bulgarian Americans include persons born in Bulgaria, in the United States, and in other countries with ethnic Bulgarian population. Because some Bulgarians are not American citizens, others are dual citizens, and still others' ancestors moved to the U.S. several generations ago, some of these people consider themselves to be simply Americans, Bulgarians, Bulgarians living in the United States or American Bulgarians.
After the 2000 U.S. census, the population grew significantly — according to the general assessments of Bulgarian diplomatic representations in the US for 2010, there were 250,000 Bulgarians residing in the country, and more than 30,000 students.

## History

Bulgarian immigration to the United States began in the mid 19th century. According to Mihaela Robila they tended to settle in Slavic enclaves in the Midwest or Northeast. David Cassens has published a study of 'The Bulgarian Colony of Southwestern Illinois 1900-1920'. To Chicago and Back, (Bulgarian:"До Чикаго и назад") by the eminent Bulgarian author Aleko Konstantinov; first published in 1894 mostly concerns attendance at a trade fair, not emigration per se.
The United States has one of the highest numbers of Bulgarians of any country in the world. As many as 250,000 Bulgarians live in the country. From the Eastern European countries, Bulgaria has the second highest number of students who study in the United States, after Russia.

## Demographics

The state with the largest number of Bulgarians is Illinois, followed by California, New York, Florida, Ohio, and Indiana. Texas, more specifically Houston, also has a growing population. According to the 2000 US census the cities with the highest number of Bulgarian Americans are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Approximately 60% of Bulgarian Americans over the age of 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher. In 2015, out of 61,377 ethnic Bulgarians born outside the United States, 57,089 were born in Bulgaria, 37 in North Macedonia and 46 in Greece.
Bulgarian Americans have an annual median household income of $76,862. Following the 2000 US census when Bulgarians were 50-100,000, during the last 10 years their number has grown significantly to over 250,000.

### Bulgarian-born population

Bulgarian-born population in the US since 2010:
| Year | Number |
| 2010 | 62,684 |
| 2011 | 65,202 |
| 2012 | 64,964 |
| 2013 | 67,941 |
| 2014 | 63,318 |
| 2015 | 67,377 |
| 2016 | 70,800 |

## Language

According to the 2000 US Census, 28,565 people indicated that they speak Bulgarian at home. But in the recent years the number grew significantly to over 250,000 people. Some Bulgarian Americans speak Bulgarian, especially the more recent immigrants, while others might not speak the language at all, or speak Bulgarian mixed with English to a lesser or greater extent.
Some Bulgarian Americans understand Bulgarian even though they might not be able to speak the language. There are cases where older generations of Bulgarians or descendants of Bulgarian immigrants from the early part of the 20th century are fluent in the Bulgarian language as well.

## Notable people

| Sophia Popov | Maria Popova | Rita Wilson | Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev | Alex Maleev | Miroslav Barnyashev | Angela Nikodinov | Vlad Tenev |
* John Vincent Atanasoff (1903–1995) – inventor of the first automatic electronic digital computer
* Miroslav Barnyashev – professional wrestler who worked as "Rusev" and currently, "Miro"
* Christo – world-famous artist known for projects such as The Gates and The Wrapped Reichstag
* Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev – writer, art historian, and curator
* Stoyan Chrstowe – author, journalist and noted Vermont political figure
* Bill Danoff – singer-songwriter [Bill does not have Bulgarian heritage, despite the name, according to the man himself.]
* Kiradjieff brothers, creators of Cincinnati chili
* Stephane Groueff (1922–2006) – writer and journalist who wrote the book Manhattan Project: The Untold Story of the Making of the Atomic Bomb
* Assen Jordanoff (1896–1967) – aviation constructor with a global recognition
* Dan Kolov (1892–1940) – early 20th century wrestler
* Ted Kotcheff – film and television director and producer (First Blood, Weekend at Bernie's)
* Leah LaBelle (1986–2018) – singer and finalist on American Idol
* Alex Maleev – comic book illustrator and artist best known for the Marvel Comics' series Daredevil (vol. 2), collaborating with writer Brian Michael Bendis
* Martin P. Mintchev – engineering professor
* Angela Nikodinov – figure skater
* Victor Ninov – nuclear physicist
* Peter Petroff (1919–2003) – inventor, engineer, NASA scientist, and adventurer
* Maria Popova – writer, critic, and blogger; named among the "100 Most Creative People in Business" by Fast Company in 2012
* Svetla Protich – classical pianist
* Vladimir Tenev – billionaire, co-founder of Robinhood, entrepreneur
* Andre Roussimoff (1946–1993) – professional wrestler known as André the Giant
* Dimitar Sasselov – astronomer and professor at Harvard University
* Kyril Vassilev (1908–1987) – portrait painter of royalty and American society during the mid-20th century
* Sam Voinoff (1907–1989) – college golf coach at Purdue University, with 10 Big Ten, and 1 NCAA championships.
* Sophia Popov – professional golfer, of Bulgarian and German ancestry
* Pete George – weightlifter and Olympic and World champion
* Jim George – weightlifter
* Ralitsa Vassileva - former anchor at CNN from 1992 to 2014, now university teacher at Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication
* Steve Witkoff (sometimes spelled as Vitkoff) - Republican politician of Bulgarian-Jewish descent