In 1686, the Holy League retook Buda (Budapest) from the Ottomans. One document written in the aftermath lists some of the Ottoman prisoners of war, including several dozen janissaries. Although this is well after the SCA period, many of these names can be traced back to period, so I’ve listed the names, translated as many as possible into Turkish and English, and analyzed them for the use of people who want to create janissary personas.
Nicknames and epithets
Personal nicknames
- Akçe? The akçe was the standard coin of Ottoman Turkey. This could also be aşçı, “chef.”
- Akdsche Ibrahim
- Balalı?, possibly “honeyed”
- Balalli Schaaban (Balalı Şaban)
- Cin, “Djinn”
- Dschin Ali
- Deli, “crazy, wild, reckless, brave.” This nickname was in use among civilians in the 16th century, but among janissaries, it was probably more likely to mean the man was a member of the army’s vanguard and forward scouts. See Deli under Titles and Honorifics.
- Kara, “dark.” This traditional Turkish nickname was in wide use in the 15th and 16th centuries, and sometimes replaced the personal name altogether. It appears so frequently that it’s difficult to tell whether Kara is always a nickname, or is sometimes considered part of the personal name.
- Kara Ahmed
- Kara Hussein
- Kara Mehemmed (x2)
- Kara Mustafa (x2)
- Endreneli Kara Mustafa. (This unusual double nickname might have been bestowed because there were two Endreneli Mustafas who were both in the artillery corps.)
- Köse, “beardless.” This nickname was in use in the 16th century, and could replace the given name.
- Kiose Ali
- Küçük, “small.” This nickname was in use in the 16th century, and occasionally replaced the given name.
- Kudschuk Ahmed (x2)
- Kudschuck Mehemed
- Kudschuck Veli
- Kürd, “Kurdish.” This nickname was in use in the 16th century, and occasionally replaced the given name. In Turkish sources it can be difficult to distinguish from Kurt, “wolf,” a traditional Turkish personal name.
- Kiurd Ismail
- Pırpırı, “rowdy, roughneck”
- Pir piri Hassan Bascha
- Pir piri Schalin
- Şişman, “fat”
- Schischmann Hussein
- Tat, possibly “Persian”
- Tat Hassan
- Tiryaki, possibly “addicted”
- Tiriaki Mehemmed
- Topal, “lame.” This nickname was in use in the 16th century.
- Topal Hussein
Nicknames Based on Profession
Nicknames based on profession were common in many parts of period Turkey. The nickname could replace the personal name: Many men entered the tax rolls simply as “Blacksmith” or “Shepherd” (among many other professions) and their children might refer to themselves as “son/daughter of Blacksmith” rather than their father’s given name.
Because of changes to the janissary corps, post-period janissaries were more likely than period janissaries to have a civilian profession as well as a military profession.
- Bokçu, “sewer-cleaner.” The bokçu dug and cleaned out sewers, collected dung from the streets, etc.
- Bokdschi Ahmed
- Ciritçi, “cirit-player.” Cirit (also spelled jereed) is an equestrian sport that the Ottomans incorporated into military training.
- Dshigrihtschi Halil Bascha
- Çörekçi, “soup-maker, soup-seller”
- Dscureckdschi Ibrahim
- Elmacı, “apple-grower, apple-seller”
- Almadschi Hassan
- Eskici, “waste collector, junk dealer”
- Eskidschi Ahmed
- Kirişçi, “master archer”
- Kirischdschi Hussein
- Kuşçu, “bird-seller”
- Ghiusdschi Jussuf
Nicknames Based on Place of Origin
The preponderance of nicknames based on place names sets this list apart from lists of civilians, who rarely used nicknames based on their place of origin.
- Amassiali, probably “from Amasya, Turkey”
- Amassiali Ali
- Amassieli Mustafa
- Mussa Amassiali
- Basardschikli Ali (Pazarcıklı), “from Pazarcık, Turkey”
- Borghasli Ahmed
- Borlu Mehemmed, “from Borlu” (modern Safranbolu, Turkey)
- Bosnak Ibrahim, “Bosniak”
- Endreneli, possibly “from the Enderun” (the palace school and offices at Topkapı)
- Edreneli Aivas
- Endreneli Kara Mustafa
- Endreneli Mustafa
- Ersurumli, “from Erzurum, Turkey”
- Erserumli Bekir
- Ersurumli Ibrahim
- Filibeli Ibrahim, “from Filibe” (Philippopolis, modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
- Ghiridli Mehemmed, “from Crete” (Girit in Turkish)
- Gordesli Murad, “from Gördes, Turkey”
- Icimseli Mustafa
- Iskilipli, “from İskilip, Turkey”
- Iskilip Osmann
- Iskilipli Ali
- Iskilipli Musa
- Ismidli Ibrahim, “from İzmit, Turkey”
- Koniali, “from Konya, Turkey”
- Koniali Ahmed
- Koniali Ismail
- Mlavikli Mustafa
- Nighsarli Omer
- Osman dschikdli Mehemed (Osmancıklı), “from Osmancık, Turkey”
- Sakisli Mehemmed, “from Sakiz” (Chios, Greece)
- Seresli Mehemmed, “from Serres, Greece”
- Stanboli, “from Istanbul”
- Ismail Stanboli
- Starmboli
- Tireli Ahmed
- Tokatli, “from Tokat, Turkey”
- Tokatli Osman
- Tokatli Ali Suleiman
- Tossiali Mehemmed (Tosyalı), “from Tosya, Turkey”
- Tos koparan Ibrahim. Tozkoparan means “very windy.” By the 17th century there was a neighborhood in Istanbul named Tozkoparan, which is why I moved this ambiguous name to the list of nicknames based on place of origin.
- Uskudarli Ali, “from Üsküdar, Turkey”
Titles and Honorifics
- Deli, a member of the vanguard and forward scouts known as Deli. The word means “crazy, wild, reckless, brave,” and came to describe the vanguard and forward scouts because of their daredevil military feats.
- Deli Ahmed (x2)
- Deli Hassan
- Deli Hussein (x3)
- Deli Mehemmed
- Hacı. An honorific borne by people who made the pilgrimage to Mecca (for Muslims) or Jerusalem (for Christians and Jews).
- Hadsi Mehemmed
- Hadschi Hassan
- Paşa. None of the “pashas” captured at Buda bore the literal rank of Pasha. These are probably compound names in the Turkic tradition of using high titles as part of personal names.
- Abbas Bascha
- Ali Bascha
- Dshigrihtschi Halil Bascha
- Pir piri Hassan Bascha
Patronymics
Men sometimes used a reference to their father as their nickname. They might use their father’s occupation, title, or nickname rather than their father’s given name.
Mahmud Karloghlu may have been a convert who used “Karloghlu” to circumvent the unwritten rule against converts using their non-Muslim fathers’ names. Converts were renamed “bin/bint Abdullah” to signify their break from their non-Muslim past, and I am not aware of any instances where converts dropped Abdullah for their fathers’ real names. However, there was no rule against using your father’s name as part of a nickname.
The same may be true of Saka oghla Mustafa, but I’m uncertain what “Saka” means or where it’s from.
- Mahmud Karloghlu (Karloğlu, “son of Karl”)
- Saka oghla Mustafa (Sakaoğlu, “son of Saka”)
Double Names
These are almost certainly full names with the bin (“son of”) omitted between the son’s and father’s names. This pattern occasionally appears in 16th-century court records, where scribes sometimes omit the bin from civilians’ names.
- Ahmed Mehemmed (probably Ahmed bin Mehmed)
- Jussuf Abd’ullah (probably Yusuf bin Abdullah)
- Mehemmed Abd’ullah (probably Mehmed bin Abdullah)
- Tokatli Ali Suleiman (probably Tokatlı Ali bin Süleyman)
Untranslated
- Mustafa Vradsch
Personal Names
These are all the personal names represented in the list, with their standard Turkish spellings. If there’s no spelling given, then the name is spelled the same in modern Turkish as in the original list.
All of these names were used in abundance throughout the entire Islamic period. The top-heavy distribution, with most people bearing one of a few mega-popular names, was typical of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.
If your persona was a convert to Islam, the only names in this list that he would be unlikely to bear are Receb and Şaban. Those are the names of months in the Hijiri (Islamic) calendar, given to boys born in those months. Converts weren’t normally given Muslim names that reflected the circumstances of their birth.
- Abbas
- Abd’ullah (Abdullah)
- Ahmed
- Aivas (Ayvaz)
- Ali
- Bekir
- Halil
- Hassan (Hasan)
- Hidir (Hıdır, a variant of Hızır)
- Hussein (Hüseyin)
- Ibrahim (İbrahim)
- Ismail (İsmail)
- Jusuf/Jussuf (Yusuf)
- Kiennan (Kenan?)
- Mehemmed/Mehemed (Mehmed)
- Murad
- Musa/Mussa (Musa)
- Mustafa
- Omer (Ömer)
- Osman/Osmann (Osman)
- Redscheb (Receb)
- Schaaban (Şaban)
- Schalin (unidentified—possibly Şalin?)
- Suleiman (Süleyman)
- Veli
Source: http://epa.oszk.hu/00000/00018/00178/pdf/EPA00018_hadtortenelmi_1916_423-442.pdf, pp. 434-435.