{"id":2447,"date":"2023-07-27T15:31:30","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T20:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/?page_id=2447"},"modified":"2026-03-02T15:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T20:27:53","slug":"ottoman-turkish-female-nicknames","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/turkish-names\/muslim-names\/ottoman-turkish-female-nicknames\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottoman Turkish Female Nicknames"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

One of [the beauties] is Cotton ‘Ayni, a jasmine breast
Her skin, like cotton, is delicate and moist
Her body is a fresh sapling in the soul’s garden
Her mouth, of purest water, is a fountain
I said, “Come to my breast,” said the heartbreaker,
“What have fire and cotton to do together?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\u2014 The \u015eehrengiz of ‘Azizi, late 16th century<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Almost all the nicknames we have for 16th-century Ottoman Turkish women are sex workers’ working names. We don’t know why. Did “respectable” women not have nicknames? Were women’s nicknames too intimate to use in the public sphere?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless otherwise noted, the women’s real names are more or less ordinary names of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Names from Court Cases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

In court, most female sex workers were identified by their real names. However, a small number had nicknames or professional names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Arab Fat\u0131:<\/strong> Fat\u0131 the Arab. “Arab” usually referred to North Africans. Fat\u0131 was a nickname for Fat\u0131ma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atlu Ases:<\/strong> Possibly means “Mounted Night-Watchman.” Atlu<\/em> means “pertaining to horses,” and the ases<\/em> were neighborhood guards, night watchmen, etc. The professional name of a sex worker named Kamer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balatlu Ayni:<\/strong> Ayni from Balat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giritl\u00fc Nefise:<\/strong> Cretan Nefise. A number of people had previously been stolen from the region and enslaved, raising the possibility that Nefise had been stolen from Crete, enslaved, converted to Islam, renamed, and later freed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazganc\u0131 Hatunu:<\/strong> A kazganc\u0131 makes or sells cauldrons. Possibly “Mistress Cauldron-Seller,” but given the context, I assume there’s a sexual meaning. The professional name of a sex worker named Ay\u015fe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narin:<\/strong> Delicate, fragile. This is the only name the woman was identified by, so it could be a very rare but mundane female name, or it could be a more literary professional name.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Names from the \u015eehrengiz of ‘Azizi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ottoman poets created an entire genre of poetry devoted to extolling the beauties of a particular city: the whiteness of their brows, the curls of their locks, the wit and cruelty of their devastating comebacks. 48 of these poems, or \u015fehrengiz, have survived. 47 of them are about… beautiful young men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sole \u015fehrengiz about women was written in the late 16th century by an otherwise obscure poet named ‘Azizi. The \u015eehrengiz of ‘Azizi describes 50 women, most of whom are identified by their personal name, with or without a reference to their father’s name or occupation. However, about a third also have a nickname:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ak ‘Alem:<\/strong> White ‘Alem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ak G\u00fcvercin:<\/strong> White Pigeon. The nickname of a woman named Rebi’a Banu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bihzad H\u00fcma:<\/strong> Well-Born H\u00fcma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c7\u0131rmanlu Ay\u015fe:<\/strong> Ay\u015fe of the Embraces, or Cuddly Ay\u015fe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divane Meryem:<\/strong> Lovesick Miriam. (Divane means “crazy,” with a connotation of lovesickness.) Muslims also used the name Meryem, but the verse describing this woman makes it clear that she was Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elleri-G\u00fczel Cemile:<\/strong> Cemile of the Fair Hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ermeni Sultan:<\/strong> Armenian Sultan. “Sultan” was a common female name, one of the few that crossed religious and ethnic borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u0131z ‘Alem:<\/strong> ‘Alem the Maiden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fck Kamer:<\/strong> Little Kamer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fck Nisa:<\/strong> Little Nisa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kulak Emine:<\/strong> Emine of the Ears?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurda H\u00fcma:<\/strong> Possibly Wolfish H\u00fcma?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meh-suret:<\/strong> Moon Countenance. A nickname given to a woman whose real name was Cennet (“Heavens”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penbe ‘Ayni:<\/strong> Cotton ‘Ayni, a reference to her whiteness and softness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rum Meryem:<\/strong> Greek Miriam. The Rum were the ethnic Greeks who lived in Anatolia before the Ottomans arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sa\u00e7l\u0131 Zaman:<\/strong> Long-haired Zaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u015eive Emine:<\/strong> \u015eive means something like “accent” or “speech.” Beautiful speech was highly admired in women,1<\/a><\/sup> so Emine’s appellation presumably refers to some quality of her speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S\u00fcl\u00fcn Emine:<\/strong> Pheasant Emine. The pheasant was believed to have a pleasant, swaying walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topukl\u0131 Ay\u015fe:<\/strong> Ay\u015fe of the Ankles. (“Topuk” literally means heels.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Court Cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sariyannis, Marinos. (2008). “Prostitution in Ottoman Istanbul, Late Sixteenth – Early Eighteenth Century<\/a>.” Turcica. 40. 37-65. 10.2143\/TURC.40.0.2037134.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u015eehrengiz of ‘Azizi<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ersoy, Ersen (2012). “XVI. As\u0131r \u015eairi Az\u00eez\u00ee’nin (\u00f6. 1585) Baz\u0131 Gazelleri<\/a>“.\u00a0Celal Bayar \u00dcniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi<\/em>,\u00a010<\/em>(1): 140-161.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gibb, E. John Wilkinson., Browne, E. Granville. (19001909). A history of Ottoman poetry<\/a>.<\/em> London: Luzac & co. [Leyden, printed, E.J. Brill].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/nek.istanbul.edu.tr:4444\/ekos\/TEZ\/ET002063.pdf<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/TrkEdebiyatndaehr-engizlerVeehr-engizlerdestanbul\/page\/n125\/mode\/2up?q=fersa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

  1. For example, a common name for female slaves was Tuti or Dudu, “parrot,” referring to pleasant, friendly speech. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One of [the beauties] is Cotton ‘Ayni, a jasmine breastHer skin, like cotton, is delicate and moistHer body is a fresh sapling in the soul’s gardenHer mouth, of purest water, is a fountainI said, “Come to my breast,” said the heartbreaker,“What have fire and cotton to do together?” . \u2014\u2026<\/p>\n

    Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2956,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"For example, a common name for female slaves was Tuti or Dudu, \\\"parrot,\\\" referring to pleasant, friendly speech.\",\"id\":\"ecc4edc9-3c35-440b-b2f4-d7b72845e29e\"}]"},"categories":[108,85,81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2447","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-muslim-names","category-ottoman-turkish-names","category-turkish-names"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3109,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2447\/revisions\/3109"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.issendai.com\/16thcenturyistanbul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}