Animals in Ottoman Turkish Names

[In progress.]

On Dating the Names

All the names are from c. 1450 to 1650 CE, with the bulk coming from the middle to late 1500’s. Many of these names are so popular that in any source with a large enough sample, you have a fair chance of finding at least one person with that name. Therefore, rather than bogging down the table with references, I have given a single source and date for each name, and have mentioned in the notes when a particular name is rare.

Men’s Names

Name	Animal	Notes	Source
Arslan, Aslan	Lion	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575 (Arslan), [USK84] 1590-1591 (Aslan)
Balaban	Hawk or falcon	Turkic or Persian. Possibly derived from the Persian word for “hero, wrestler,” it denotes a large, physically powerful person, and also refers to a number of different species of birds of prey.	[BAL02] 1563
Burak	Buraq, mythical steed	Arabic. The Buraq, whose name literally means “lightning,” was the supernatural steed that carried Muhammad on his legendary Night Journey.	[USK84] 1590-1591
Doğan	Falcon	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Doğanca	Falconish	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Er Doğan	Male (mighty, brave) falcon	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Erkurd	Male (mighty, brave) wolf	Turkic	[BIGA] 1516
Gazanfer	Fierce lion	Arabic	[USK84] 1590-1591
Hamza	Lion	Arabic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Haydar	Lion	Arabic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Kaplan	Leopard	Turkic. Today means “tiger,” but in period meant “leopard.”	[BAL01] 1557-1558
Karaca	Roe deer	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Karakoç	Black ram	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Kemal	Camel	Arabic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Kumru	Dove	Arabic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Kurd, Kurt	Wolf	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Melik Aslan	King lion	A rare name, documented in the case of Melik Aslan b. Uzun İvaz.	[USK05] 1524-1530
Parsi	Leopard	Persian	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Pervane	Moth	Persian. A poetic name implying a lover who is drawn to the beloved like a moth to the flame.	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Şahin	Hawk	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Serçe	Sparrow	Denotes smallness; the little finger was (and is) called the “sparrow finger.” A rare name, documented in the case of Sefer bt. Serçe. Probably a nickname that took the place of the given name.	[USK51] 1579-1580
Sungur	Gyrfalcon	Turkic	[USK09] 1534-1536
Tuğrul	Mythical bird of prey	Turkic	[USK09] 1534-1536
Turna	Crane	Turkic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Üveys	Little wolf, wolf cub	Arabic	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Veys	Little wolf, wolf cub	Arabic. A variant of Üveys.	[SIVAS] 1574-1575
Veysel	Little wolf, wolf cub	Arabic. A variant of Üveys.	[SIVAS] 1574-1575

Women’s Names

Name	Animal	Notes	Source
Dudu, Tuti	Parrot	Persian. Denotes pleasant, friendly speech. A name associated with female slaves.	[BAL02] 1563 (Dudu), [USK02] 1518-1521 (Tuti)
Güvercin	Pigeon	Attested as a nickname: Ak Güvercin, “white pigeon,” was the professional name of a sex worker mentioned in the Şehrengiz of ‘Azizi.	[SEHR] 1585
Hüma	Mythical bird of paradise	Persian. A popular name because it was the name of Muhammad’s mother.	[USK17] 1549-1556
Kumru	Dove	Arabic	[EYU03] 1585-1587
Sülün	Pheasant	Turkic. The pheasant was believed to have a pleasant, swaying walk. Attested as a nickname: Sülün Emine, “Pheasant Emine,” was the professional name of a sex worker mentioned in the Şehrengiz of ‘Azizi.	[SEHR] 1585

Sources

Sources for Names

[BAL01] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri Balat Mahkemesi 1 Numaralı Sicil (H. 964 – 965 / M. 1557-1558). İstanbul: İsam, 2019.

[BAL02] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri Balat Mahkemesi 2 Numaralı Sicil (H. 970 – 971 / M. 1563). İstanbul: İsam, 2010.

[BIGA] ÇETİNKAYA, Mehmet. “TD 59 (1516) NUMARALI BİGA MUFASSAL TAHRİR DEFTERİNE GÖRE BİGA SANCAĞINDA KİŞİ ADLARI.” TÜRK DÜNYASI YOLUNDA BİR ÖMÜR PROF. DR. MEHMET ŞAHİNGÖZ’E ARMAĞAN, 2022, 313–24.

[EYU03] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri Eyüb Mahkemesi (Havass-ı Refia) 3 Numaralı Sicil (H. 993 – 995 / M. 1585 – 1587). İstanbul: İsam, 2010.

[SEHR] The Şehrengiz of ‘Azizi, discussed in “Ottoman Turkish Female Nicknames.”

[SIVAS] Turkey Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü. Arşiv Dairesi TKG KK TTd 178. 2014. H.982 (M.1574/1575) Tarihli Ve TKG. KK. TTd. 178 Numaralı Defter-I Mufassal-I Livā-I Sivas. Ankara: T.C. Çevre ve Şehircilik Bakanlığı Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü Arşiv Dairesi Başkanlığı.

[USK02] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri: Üsküdar Mahkemesi 2 Numaralı Sicil (H. 924-927 / M. 1518-1521). İstanbul: İSAM, 2010.

[USK05] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri: Üsküdar Mahkemesi 5 Numaralı Sicil (H.930-936 / M. 1524-1530). İstanbul: İSAM, 2010.

[USK09] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri: Üsküdar Mahkemesi 9 Numaralı Sicil (H. 940-942 / M. 1534-1536). İstanbul: İSAM, 2010.

[USK17] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri Üsküdar Mahkemesi 17 Numaralı Sicil (H.956-963/ M.1549-1556). İstanbul: İSAM, 2010.

[USK51] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri: Üsküdar Mahkemesi 51 Numaralı Sicil (H.987-988/ M.1579-1580). İstanbul: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, 2010.

[USK84] Yılmaz, COŞKUN (ed.). İstanbul Kadı Sicilleri: Üsküdar Mahkemesi 84 Numaralı Sicil (H.999-1000/ M.1590-1591). İstanbul: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, 2010.

Sources for Name Meanings

Şenel, Mustafa, and Nadir İlhan. “Av hayvanlarının kişi adlarındaki yansıması.” Av ve Avcılık Kitabı (2008): 321-336.

Redhouse, James W. Sir, 1811-1892. Redhouse’s Turkish Dictionary, In Two Parts, English And Turkish, And Turkish And English. 2d ed. London: B. Quaritch, 1880.

With Thanks

This article was the idea of Nikolai Gornostai Spiach’ev, Stote Herald Extraordinary, who had so many requests for Turkish animal names that he planned to write the article himself. When he was offered admittance to the Order of the Pelican, he realized that he had too much on his plate, and granted me permission to write the article instead. Teşekkür ederim, Nikolai Çelebi.

Updated March 2, 2026