List of Famous people born in Bulgaria

Kubrat Venkov Pulev is a Bulgarian professional boxer. He held the European heavyweight title twice between 2012 and 2016, and has challenged twice for the unified world heavyweight title in 2014 and December 2020. As an amateur he won multiple medals at international tournaments, including gold at the 2008 European Championships and bronze at the 2005 World Championships, all in the super-heavyweight division.

Grigor Dimitrov is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 3, which he achieved in November 2017 after winning the ATP Finals.

Philipp Bedros Kirkorov PAR is a Bulgarian-born Russian pop singer. He is a five-time winner of the "Best Selling Russian Artist" title at the World Music Awards ceremonies.

Sylvie Vartan is a Bulgarian-French-Armenian singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. Her performances often featured elaborate show-dance choreography, and she made many appearances on French and Italian TV. With 50 million records and CD's sold worldwide, 2000 magazine covers and being the number one French female singer with concerts and audience worldwide, Sylvie Vartan is considered a true Legend and Icon.

Maria Bakalova is a Bulgarian actress. She gained international attention as Bulgarias top-earning model/spokeswoman, as well as for her role as Tutar Sagdiyev in the 2020 mockumentary Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, for which she received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first Bulgarian actress to be nominated by each of these awarding bodies.

Ruja Ignatova is a Bulgarian convicted fraudster. She is best known as the founder of a Ponzi scheme known as OneCoin, which The Times has described as "one of the biggest scams in history". She was the subject of the 2019 BBC podcast series The Missing Cryptoqueen.

Miroslav Barnyashev is a Bulgarian-American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Miro and is a one-time AEW TNT Champion. He is also known for his decade-long career in WWE under the ring name Rusev, where he became the first and so far only Bulgarian wrestler to have worked for WWE.

Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer. A striker, he captained the Bulgaria national team from 2006 to 2010, and is the country's all-time leading goalscorer. He is regarded as one of the greatest Bulgarian players of all time.

Ludmilla "Lucy" Diakovska is a Bulgarian-born German singer-songwriter, music producer, dancer, stage actress and television personality, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German media.

Simeon Borisov von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, known formerly or by courtesy as King Simeon II or Tsar Simeon II, is a Bulgarian politician, who had served as the last reigning Tsar of Bulgaria from 1943 to 1946, before later serving as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005.

Samuel Finzi is a Bulgarian actor, of Bulgarian-Jewish descent. Since his start in the late 1980s, he has hundreds of film, television, and theatrical credits. Between 1993 and 2011, he received ten acting awards.

Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been noted for her "cerebral" skills on the surface. Pironkova also found success playing on the quick hard-courts throughout her career, winning a title in Sydney and reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Blagoy Aleksandrov Ivanov is a Bulgarian mixed martial artist and Sambo practitioner who won the 2008 Combat Sambo World Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he competes in the Heavyweight division. He previously fought for the World Series of Fighting, where he attained success as the promotion's Heavyweight champion. Blagoy has also competed in Judo as a heavyweight national representative for Bulgaria. He competed in the 2003 Balkan Junior Championships and placed first. He then continued in competition up to the European Championships level but only placed 7th in the 2007 U23 Tournament, and did not make an attempt to represent Bulgaria in the 2008 Olympic games. Ivanov chose to enter into a career in mixed martial arts as opposed to representing Bulgaria in the 2012 Olympic Games. As of December 24, 2020, he is #13 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Sonya Yoncheva is a Bulgarian operatic soprano.

Bedros Filippovich Kirkorov is a Bulgarian and Russian singer and bandleader of Armenian origin. He was awarded the People's Artist of Russia title; and is the father of Philipp Kirkorov.

Albena Petrova Denkova is a Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiance Maxim Staviski, she is a two-time (2006–2007) World champion, a two-time (2003–2004) European silver medalist, and the 2006 Grand Prix Final champion. Denkova and Staviski are the first Bulgarians to medal at the World Figure Skating Championships.

Gülsim İlhan Ali is a Turkish television actress and model. She is best known for her role as Aslihan Hatun in the historical drama series Diriliş: Ertuğrul. She also appeared as İlkgün in Hanım Köylü. The famous shows, in which she starred, were Payitaht: Abdülhamid and Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

Rumen Georgiev Radev is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who is the current President of Bulgaria since January 22, 2017. Radev previously served as Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. He won the 2016 presidential election, as an independent candidate supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, defeating GERB candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in the second round.

Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who is currently a football commentator for Univision Deportes. A prolific forward, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and is widely considered the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. He was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and 1994, and received the Ballon d'Or in 1994. In 2004, Stoichkov was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Petrov joined Celtic from CSKA Sofia in 1999, and won ten trophies in his time at Celtic Park, including four Scottish Premier League titles. In 2006, he moved to Aston Villa in the Premier League, along with his former manager Martin O'Neill. Petrov became club captain at Villa Park, and was an inductee to the Aston Villa Hall of Fame in 2013. In addition he is Bulgaria's all-time most-capped player with 105 appearances for the side.