Personal Characteristics
- Ağsak, “lame” [Adana 182]
- Ak, “white”
- Ak Koca [Adana 195]
- Akıllı, Akıllu, “smart” [Adana 182]
- Arık
- Arık Ali [Adana 182]
- Aşık, Isık, “light”
- Aşık Ahmed (Isık Ahmed) [Adana 197]
- Aşık Halil [Adana 197]
- Bacağı Uzun, ‘long legs” [Adana 182]
- Başı Kara, “black head” [Adana 182]
- Boynu Eğri, “curved neck” [Adana 182]
- Boz, “gray”
- Boz Ali [Adana 201]
- Bozkara, “black and white”
- Bozkara Ramazan [Adana 201]
- Büyük, “big”
- Bıyık Ahmed [Adana 201]
- Çatal, “fork”
- Çatal Hüseyin [Adana 204]
- Çarık, “sandal,” possibly referring to a sandal-maker
- Çarık Mehmed [Adana 204]
- Çeküc, “hammer”
- Çeküc Mehmed [Adana 204]
- Cevrik
- Cevrik Receb [Adana 204]
- Cöbek, “baboon” (?)
- Cöbek Kulaksız [Adana 205]
- Çulha, “broadcloth”
- Çulha Minnet [Adana 205]
- Dağıl
- Dağıl Mehmed [Adana 205]
- Dîvâne
- Dîvâne Yakub [TOP02 87]
- Ede, “cultured”
- Ede Mehmed [ERDO 2020]
- Erdinç, possibly “robust”
- Erdinç İbrahim [Adana 210]
- Ensesi Yüksek, “high neck” [Adana 210]
- Gök, “blue”
- Gökce, “sky blue”
- Kara, “dark” (the most popular nickname)
- Kara Hasan [ERDO 2020]
- Karaca, “roebuck”
- Kel, “bald”
- Kızıl, “red”
- Köpek, “dog”
- Kör, “blind”
- Köse, “beardless”
- Köse Mustafa This man was mentioned because his adult daughter endowed a charitable foundation, which is evidence that Köse wasn’t given only to boys too young to grow a beard. [ERDO 2020]
- Koyun, “sheep”
- Küçük, “little”
- Kürd, which might mean either “wolf” (often written kurt) or “Kurdish”
- Mamik, “puzzle”
- Mascı
- Minik, “tiny”
- öküz, “ox”
- Pir, “old”
- Renk, “color”
- Sağır, “deaf”
- Sarı, Saru, “yellow, blond”
- Sarıklı, “turbaned”
- Serçe, “sparrow,” a bird associated with tininess
- Serçe Mehmed [ERDO 2020]
- şişmşek, possibly “one who puffs”
- Taklid, “imitation”
- Teke, “goat”
- Tekür, possibly “single”
- Tolu
- Varsak, possibly the name of a Turkish tribe
- Yörük, “of the Yörük ethnicity”
- Yörük Ali [ERDO 2020]
Professions
- Abacı, “weaver or seller of coarse wool cloth”
- Süleyman b. Abacı [USK02]
- Abacı Hüseyin b. Abdullah [USK51]
- Hüseyin Abacı [USK84]
- Arpacı, “barley seller”
- Arpacı Hacı İlyas b. Bahşi [USK17]
- İshak Arpacı [USK51]
- Arpacı İsmail [USK84]
- Ases, “night watchman”
- Ases Memi b. İbrahim [TOP02]
- Ases Alagöz [TOP02 73]
- Ases Sefer [TOP02 78]
- Attâr
- Attâr Bekir b. Mehmed [BAL02]
- Attâr Kurd [IST03]
- Bağcı [Adana 199]
- Bakkal, “grocer”?
- Bakkal Süleyman b. Abdullah [BAL01]
- Başmakçı, “shoemaker”
- Başmakçı Karagöz b. Abdullah [USK01]
- Bıçakcı, “bladesmith”
- Davud Reis b. Bıçakcı [USK01]
- Börekçi, “börek-maker”
- Börekçi Veli [USK05]
- Börkcü
- Börkçü Ali [Adana 202]
- Boyacı, probably “dyer” and not “painter” or “artist”
- Boyacı Mehmed Murad Hatunu [ERDO 2020]
- Çerçi, “peddler”
- Çerçi Ahmed [ERDO 2020]
- Deli, Delü, “crazy.” Can be a personal characteristic or an indication that the man is a Deli in the Janissaries.
- Demirci, Demürci, “ironworker, blacksmith”
- Demürci Halil [Adana 206]
- Hamamcı, “bathhouse-keeper”
- Hamamcı Cafer kızı Usul [ERDO 2020]
- Kassab, “butcher”
- Kassab Hamza Bey [ERDO 2020]
- Kirişçi, “catgut-maker or catgut-seller”
- Kirişçi karı Catgut-maker’s wife [ERDO 2020]
- Köprücü
- Mustafa b. Köprücü [USK26]
- Korucu, “forester”
- Âişe bt. Korucu Hamza [BAL01]
- Koyuncu, “sheep farmer” (not shepherd)
- Oyucı
- Oyucı Memi [TOP02 73]
- Papuçcu, “babouche-maker, shoemaker”
- Papuçcu Derviş [TOP02 81]
- Saraç, “saddler”
- Saraç Ahmed b. Hasan [USK05]
- Sarraf, “moneychanger”
- Sarraf Mustafa b. Abdullah [TOP02 242]
- Sarraf Ahmed [TOP02 79]
- Şerbetçi, “sorbet-maker”
- Ayşe (Şerbetçi kızı) [ERDO 2020]
- Seyhacı
- Seyhacı Hamza kızı Fatma [ERDO 2020]
- Sirkeci, “maker or seller of vinegar”
- Sirkeci Yakub [USK84]
- Tatar
- Tatar Ferhad [USK05]
A number of professions haven’t been featured in a personal name in the sources I’ve worked with, but they’re period terms that could be used in a personal name. Here are some professions drawn from the names of neighborhoods in Ankara in 1523 [ERDO 2005]:
- Baklacı, “bean seller”
- Bostancı, “gardener”
- Buryacı, “maker or seller of mats
- Debbâğ, “tanner”
- Ekinci, “cultivater, sower”
- Helvacı, “maker or seller of helva”
- Habbâz, “maker or seller of bread”
- Harrât, “carver”
Replacements for Names
These nicknames completely replaced a man’s personal name.
- Bölükbaşı, “squadron leader”
- Bölükbaşı dimekle ma‘rûf Mehmed b. Mahmud [RUM21] Mehmed b. Mahmud, known as Bölükbaşı
- Çatal Ağa
- Çatal Ağa demekle ma‘rûf Sinan Bey b. Abdullah [TOP02]
- Hanakalmaz
- Hanakalmaz demekle ma‘rûf Mehmed Reis b. Mustafa [BAL02]
- Karnıyarık, “splitbelly”
- Karnıyarık karısı Aişe Hatun [ERDO 2020]
- Kızkadı
- Kızkadı dimekle ma‘rûf Mehmed b. Hamid [RUM21 89]
- Yelkovan
- Yelkovan dimekle ma‘rûf Ali Reis [RUM21 99]
Patronymics
Although these nicknames refer to the bearer as the son (-oğlu or -zâde) of another person, they do not contain the father’s real name. For example, Mahmud Bey b. Kasım was nicknamed Hançerlizâde, “son of Hançerli,” which could be a reference to Kasım’s profession.
- Korucuoğlu, “son of the forester”
- Korucuoğlu Ahmed [TOP02 63]
- Hançerlizâde, “son of the dagger wielder”
- Hançerlizâde dimekle ma‘rûf Mahmud Bey b. Kasım [RUM21 137]
- Karanohudzâde, “son of the black chickpea”
- Karanohudzâde dimekle ma‘rûf Musli Çavuş [RUM21 121]
Sources
I’m working on getting my sources for this page cited correctly. Some of the sources for this page can be found of the page about Janissaries’ names.
[Adana] Kurt, Yılmaz. “Personal Names in Adana Sanjak | Adana Sancağında Kişi Adları“. Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 15, no. 26 (May 1991): 169-252. https://doi.org/10.1501/Tarar_0000000040.
[ERDO 2020] Erdoğan Özünlü, Emine. “How can Ankara’s philanthropist women be explained within the context of the relationship between foundation and place? | Vakif ve mekân ilişkisi bağlaminda ankara’nin hayirsever kadinlari nasil anlamlandirilabilir?”. Ankara Anadolu Ve Rumeli Araştırmaları Dergisi 1, no. 1 (July 2020): 217-43.
This source analyzes a register of charitable foundations that was compiled in 1571, but the foundations, and the people who endowed them, came from the 14th through 16th centuries.
[ERDO 2005] Erdoğan, E. (2005). TAHRİR DEFTERLERİNE GÖRE ANKARA ŞEHRİ YERLEŞMELERİ. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 6(1), 249-262.
[Hacı] Hacıgökmen, Mehmet Ali. “Commercial Activities of the Ahi Groups in Ankara and Baciyan-i Rum | Ankara Ahilerinin Ticarî Faaliyetleri ve Baciyân-i Rûm Hakkında Bir Araştırma“
Updated April 7, 2025