Men’s Nicknames

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]
  • Erdinç, possibly “robust”
    • Erdinç İbrahim [Adana 210]
  • Ensesi Yüksek, “high neck” [Adana 210]
  • Gök, “blue”
  • Gökce, “sky blue”
  • Kara, “dark” (the most popular nickname)
  • Karaca, “roebuck”
  • Kel, “bald”
  • Kızıl, “red”
  • Köpek, “dog”
  • Kör, “blind”
  • Köse, “beardless”
  • Koyun, “sheep”
  • Küçük, “little”
  • Kürd
  • Mamik, “puzzle”
  • Mascı
  • Minik, “tiny”
  • öküz, “ox”
  • Pir, “old”
  • Renk, “color”
  • Sağır, “deaf”
  • Sarı, Saru, “yellow, blond”
  • Sarıklı, “turbaned”
  • şişmşek, possibly “one who puffs”
  • Taklid, “imitation”
  • Teke, “goat”
  • Tekür, possibly “single”
  • Tolu
  • Varsak

Professions

  • Ases, “night watchman”
    • Ases Memi b. İbrahim [TOP02]
    • Ases Alagöz [TOP02 73]
    • Ases Sefer [TOP02 78]
  • Bağcı [Adana 199]
  • Börekçi, “börek-maker”
    • Börekçi Veli [USK05]
  • Börkcü
    • Börkçü Ali [Adana 202]
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • Tatar
    • Tatar Ferhad [USK05]

Replacements for Names

These nicknames completely replaced a man’s personal name.

  • Bölükbaşı
    • Bölükbaşı dimekle ma‘rûf Mehmed b. Mahmud [RUM21]
  • Çatal Ağa
    • Çatal Ağa demekle ma‘rûf Sinan Bey b. Abdullah [TOP02]
  • Hanakalmaz
    • Hanakalmaz demekle ma‘rûf Mehmed Reis b. Mustafa [BAL02]
  • 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]

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