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A bit more background: https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B0
Also a Bulgarian variant transliteration of Биляна. You'll find numerous bearers on social media.
Also Slovene: https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biljana_(ime) [noted -ed]
My name is Biljana, I was born in the Republic of Macedonia and grew up around so many other girls also named Biljana. Debate and discuss all you want, the name has been synonymous with people living in what is today the Republic of Macedonia and our identity cannot be dismissed. Whatever the origin or the dispersion of the name Biljana it cannot make me feel less Macedonian or make me question my identity. I accept and respect that there are Bulgarians and Serbs and Albanians as distinct national identities, so I should be extended the same courtesy and right and dignity. It is normal that through history identities are shaped, some are older some are younger. The USA is barely 200 years old and people did not even feel like true Americans there until the automobile and radio united them in a more homogeneous culture after the 1920's but still no one can deny that identity exists. There are natural, historical and political factors behind each national identity, including the Macedonian one. The fact is it exists and other Macedonians should not feel threatened by Bulgarians much the same as Bulgarians should not feel threatened by the Macedonian identity.
Slavic origin, from the name of "herb". Meaning: gentle, modest, self-satisfied, complacent. There is an old folk Macedonian song: "Biljana platno beleše", which means: "Biljana bleached the sheets" at the spring of The Lake of Ohrid, Macedonia.
Another explanation links this name to the word "biljur" which means "mountain crystal", a type of flower that can be found in Macedonia.
Biljana as someone has mentioned is so obviously a Slavic name. Even an amateur in etymology can tell you that. It comes from the word "bilje". The name is as much used in Macedonia as its used in Serbia. There is no written record that Macedonians (who in reality haven't existed before the 20th century and unrelated to Ancient Macedonia) had it first. If anything it is probably the Serbians who have used it first as they have existed much longer than the Macedonians who are Serbo-Bulgarians themselves. Bulgarians are Tatars and cannot set any historic right to the name because it is Slavic.
Bulgarians are not of Tatar origin! Read independent history materials, not your Serb-loving, Serb-serving and Serb-made-up history textbooks.The Bulgarian nation is formed by the merging of Slavic and pre-Bulgarian tribes around 8th century A.D. The Bulgarian state on the Bolkan peninsula - as a union of Slavic and pre-Bulgarian tribes (which are of Indo-European and not of Tatarian origin!) exists since the year 680, and that is official Byzantanium source - state documentation.You are so blind, you just retell what somebody told you with no regard of the truth! And with no real interest of what the indisputable historic truth is whatsoever! The Bulgarian people has nothing to do with Tatarian tribes. Not that it would be an insult, as most of you mean it.
This is not the site to discuss the ethnicity of Bulgarians but everybody knows that you guys (Tatars) came in the 7th century to the Balkan peninsula and founded your Tatar state. Bulgars had khaganates and khans which is a Turkic (cf Tatar) form of state and title. The only Slavs Tatars ruled over were the Serbs (as no other Slav peoples existed in that part of the Balkans) which makes Bulgars a mixture of Serbo-Tatar people. This is just a fact - go look it up in any history book. The nickname for Biljana in Serbian is Bilja (which clearly indicates that the names stems from the Slavic word for a plant).
Also a feminine name in Slovenia.
The name is related or a version of the Slavic "Jana". "Bil" is short from of bilbil, the bird with the most beautiful singing voice, also added to Jana means beautiful Jana.
Biljana is an old Slavic name meaning plants (bilje), but today is used in countries that do not have Slavic origin (like Bulgaria, Tatarian country). Mainly it is most popular in Macedonia (Slavic country) and in Serbia (Slavic country). Usually for someone called Biljana gives automatic thinking that the person who has that name is Macedonian. This name is "trademark" of one ancient Macedonian town (Ohrid) and Republic of Macedonia.
Biljana is one of the oldest Bulgarian names and it is not used in Serbia as commonly as it is in Bulgaria. Another interpretation of its meaning except for "herb", comes from the verb "to be" in the old Bulgarian language - 600-800 AD. It was used in Medieval Bulgaria even then. [noted, under Bilyana -ed]
People that do not have their history or are shamed of theirs are “borrowing” names. If you ask an average Bulgarian what is the meaning of the name Biljana, probably they don't know. That is understandable, because Biljana in that language doesn't mean anything. Biljana is mostly Slavic name and the most popular name in Macedonia. Also it can be found in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
Biljana is one of the oldest Macedonian names (Slavic Macedonian). I am a history professor from Germany (German) and mainly I am impressed by the Slavic names. I saw the first two comments regarding the etymology of this name and I was shocked by Bulgarian courage in public to steal a neighbor's history. Biljana is not a Bulgarian name. Bulgarians are Tatarians that adopted a dialect of the Slavic language. That does not make this nation a Slavic nation. Biljana=herbs (old Slavic language, but mainly used and probably invented in Macedonia).
I will answer to the "German history professor" because I hate ignorance and stupidity in all their forms. Bilyana (Biljana, Biliana - spell it as you like) is purely a Bulgarian name. We are not stealing anyone's history - they have been stealing our history for decades. I can tell you exacly when it was decided to create another nationality on the peninsula. It was in the 40s! Bulgarians are not Tatarians - the ethnic group is mixture of Slavic tribes and Turko-Altayans (who are of Indo-European origin).
I am amazed at the courage of vaguely informed people who publish opinions on such serious topics.
I will not answer Macedonians. They are members of our nation - our brothers and sisters and I love them. They just have been manipulated all their lives.
The name Biljana is commonly used in Bulgaria as well. As you indicated, it most probably comes from a Slavic word meaning "herb". There are two dates in Bulgaria on which women named Biljana celebrate their Name Day. The first one is on Palm Sunday (or as we call it All Flowers Day), when all people whose names are derived from flowers have a name day. The second is on June 24 when we honor St. Enio the Herb Gatherer, and on that day in some Bulgarian villages people still gather herbs and follow certain rituals to assure good health and abundant crops.

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