The electronic structure of the cubic perovskites SrTiO₃, BaTiO₃ and PbTiO₃ is calculated by Hartree-Fock and density functional theory methods. Wannier-type atomic orbitals (WTAOs) are obtained from symmetrized combinations of Bloch states of some occupied and vacant bands by a variational method. Population analysis, based on the WTAOs, attributes a mixed ionic-covalent type of bonding with partly covalent Ti-O bonds to the perovskites under study. The atomic charges thus calculated are then compared to those obtained by the traditional Mulliken population analysis.