Do you only know the old Turkish name of the village your grandfather or grandmother talked about? Type it into our ancestral village finder and within seconds see the village’s current name, the province it belongs to and its location on the map. The tool is free and covers settlements in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and North Macedonia. Once you have found the village, you can also check your right to Bulgarian citizenship with a free preliminary assessment.
The sentence we hear most often from families who emigrated from Bulgaria is: “My grandfather was from Mestanlı, but we don’t know where that is today.” Most Turkish place names in Bulgaria were replaced with Bulgarian names, especially from 1934 onwards. That is why the village name told in the family often does not appear on today’s maps, in official records or online. We built our tool to solve exactly this problem.
Try it now: find your ancestral village →
What does the tool do?
- Matches the old Turkish name with today’s name: type Mestanlı and it finds today’s Momchilgrad; type Kırcaali and it finds Kardzhali.
- Also works with Bulgarian and different spellings: it recognises the village’s Bulgarian name, Latin spelling or an approximate spelling you remember. “Eğridere”, “Egridere” and “Ardino” point to the same place.
- Shows the province and location: you see the province the village belongs to and its place on the map together.
- Covers four countries: besides Bulgaria, you can also search settlements in Romania, Greece and North Macedonia.
How to use it
- Open the ancestral village finder page.
- Type the village name as told in your family into the search box. If you are not sure, type it as you remember; the tool also finds similar spellings.
- If you like, narrow the results by choosing a country.
- Choose your village from the results and see its current name, province and location on the map.
- After finding the village, mark the relative who emigrated and the documents you have. This takes about 2 minutes; uploading documents is optional.
- Our consultant gets back to you the same working day and explains your right to apply and the steps to follow.
Why does finding the village matter?
A Bulgarian citizenship application needs records showing that your ancestor was born or lived in Bulgaria. These records are kept at the municipality and in the archives under the current name of the place of birth. Knowing the village’s current name and province:
- makes it easier to get a birth certificate from Bulgaria,
- speeds up the archive research needed for a certificate of Bulgarian origin,
- helps show that the migrant records in Türkiye and the Bulgarian records belong to the same person.
In short, the location of the village is the first and most important clue of a citizenship file.
Who can apply for citizenship?
The year your family emigrated is decisive:
| Emigration period | Situation |
|---|---|
| 1948–1950 emigrants | Those who emigrated can apply together with their children and grandchildren. |
| 1969–1978 emigrants | Those who emigrated can also apply together with their children and grandchildren. |
| 1989 and later | No new application is needed: the birth certificate is corrected, citizenship is checked in Sofia and then a passport is issued. Details: Bulgarian citizenship for 1989 emigrants. |
| Pomaks and people of Bulgarian origin | Can apply through origin regardless of the emigration date. |
You can apply even if your ancestor has passed away; see can I become a citizen if the person who emigrated from Bulgaria has died? You can find all routes on our Bulgarian citizenship page.
What if you cannot find the village?
Some villages may have been merged, abandoned or renamed more than once. If the search returns nothing, use the “Search the archives” option under the tool. Write what you know (the approximate village name, a nearby town, the emigration year, family names) and we will search the Bulgarian archives for the records. The preliminary assessment is free.
Examples of old and new names
| Name told in the family | Today’s name |
|---|---|
| Mestanlı | Momchilgrad |
| Kırcaali | Kardzhali |
| Eğridere | Ardino |
| Şumnu | Shumen |
| Hezargrad | Razgrad |
Search for your family’s village in our tool too.
Frequently asked questions
I only know the old Turkish name of the village. Is that enough?
Yes. The search works with old Turkish names, current names and Bulgarian spellings, and also finds similar spellings.
Is the tool free?
Yes. The village search and the preliminary assessment that follows are completely free.
Does a citizenship application start automatically when I find the village?
No. After finding the village you can fill in a short form about your family if you wish; our consultant gets back to you and you assess your right to apply together. The decision is yours.
Which documents are needed?
No documents are required at the first stage. A migrant certificate, an old Bulgarian ID or a civil registry record speeds up the preliminary assessment. For the document list, see our free document review page.
Can I also search villages in Romania?
Yes. You can search by selecting Romania as the country in the tool. For Romanian citizenship, see our Romanian citizenship page.
