These names were extracted from the 1580-1583 court records for the city of Bursa, Turkey. They include the names of free Muslim women, free ethnic Greek women, and suspected or confirmed enslaved Muslim women. Muslim Women These names belonged to Muslim women who appear to have been free-born. Most were…
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the Istanbul area was home to a variety of Jewish communities: Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews, who had lived in the city since the days of Byzantium; Karaites; Ashkenazim; and Sephardim. The names of the Jewish women of Istanbul reflect this mixture: Castilian, Portuguese,…
Source: Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts in the Bodleian Male Names Abdalhath, 1564 Abel, 1453 Abraham, 1324 Aḷbraseḷ Phirbashkh, 1631 Alfath, 1609 Alfay Thun, 1609 Amir Asath, 1587 Amirdschan, 16th century Amir Ezdin, 16th century Amirkher, 16th century Amirzade, 1641 Andreas, 1453, 16th century, 1511 Andrias, 16th century, c. 1618…
Source: Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art Male Names Amirbek, 1460 Anton, 1268-9 Ar.akel, 1268-9 Aslan, 1329 Astuadsatur, 1520 Awag, 1356-8 Awetik, c. 1420-32 Awetis, c. 1262-66 Barsegh, 11th century Daniel, 1419 Davit, 1626 Dser, 1419 Eghian, 986 Esayi, 1318 Ewargris, 1038 Ewdok’s-Ewt’im Grigor, 986, 1173,…
Source: The Chester Beatty Library: A Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] Male Names Abraham, 12th century Alek’sanos, 1489 Alik’sianos, 1489, 1600 Alexander, before 1588 Alt’un, 1624 Aprelus, 12th century Arak’el, 1364, 1446, 1541 Arghut’a, 1357 Arsen, 1574 Arta, c. 1273 Aslan, 1601 Astvadsatur, 1364,…
Source: Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts, 1301-1480 Everyone in this list was an Armenian-born Christian, despite the occasional presence of Muslim names like Abdǝl-Aziz. This source uses the 1913 version of the Hübschmann-Meillet transcription system. Male Names Female Names Because of the rarity of women’s names in this source, the list…
Source: A Catalogue of Armenian Manuscripts in the British Museum This source was mined mainly for female names and unusual male names, and is not a complete list of all names in the source. Male Names Akhratin, 1436 Aḷadschan, 1582 Aḷa (Agha) Mir, 1553 Aḷámir, 1553 Aḷawêlin, 1582 Alexianus, 1460…
Romaniote Jews were notable for giving Greek names to their children. Due to the shortcomings of my sources, this list overstates the number of Greek names in the Romaniote name pool. In practice, roughly 14% of all Romaniote women bore Greek names. Afedra: Greek female form of the Turkish word…
These names were borne by a mix of free, enslaved, and converted women. Because of the data spread, the names couldn’t be conclusively placed in one category or another; there were too many freeborn women bearing them to declare that they were slave names, and too many slave women bearing…
These names were commonly given to slave women upon their conversion. While the occasional freeborn woman bore one of these names, to most people the name would strongly suggest that she was or had been a slave. Âfitâb: Persian, “sun.” Aynülhayât: The fountain of life. Bahtiyar Belagat Benefşe Canfedâ Cansever:…