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]