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 born to Muslim fathers, but a handful were converts to Islam.
- Aişe
- Amine
- Asale
- Ayn
- Ayni
- Bağdad
- Bahşayiş
- Cennet
- Döne
- Durkadın
- Durpaşa (or Turpaşa)
- Elif
- Emine
- Fahriye
- Fatıma
- Gülli
- Gülnaz
- Gülsün
- Hadice
- Hani
- Has Kadın
- Hatunşah
- Huban Hatun
- Hüsna
- Kadınşah
- Kamer
- Kerime
- Kostantıniyye
- Leyla
- Mehriban
- Melike
- Meryem
- Mihma
- Mihri
- Mihriban
- Müberra
- Muhtiy
- Mümine
- Nefise
- Rabia
- Rahime
- Razıye
- Rıdvan (usually a male name)
- Rıdvane
- Rukıyye/Rukıye
- Sabire
- Safiye
- Saliha
- Şami
- Satı
- Şehriban
- Şehzade
- Sekile
- Selcik
- Selime
- Selva
- Şems
- Şemse
- Sitti
- Suğra
- Sultan
- Ümmi
- Ümmühani
- Ünzile
- Zahide
- Zeliha
The raw data contains the names of all women whose names appeared with a patronymic. Duplicates were removed.
Raw Data for Muslim Women
- Aişe bt. Abdullah
- Aişe bt. Ahmed
- Aişe bt. Ali
- Aişe bt. Bilal
- Aişe bt. Emir
- Aişe bt. Hasan
- Aişe bt. Mehmed
- Aişe bt. Yakub
- Aişe bt. Yardım
- Aişe Hatun ibnu Abdullah
- Amine bt. Abdullah
- Amine bt. Hamza
- Amine bt. Mirza
- Ayni bt. Mahmud
- Bağdad bt. Ali
- Bağdad bt. Mehmed
- Cennet bt. İbrahim
- Cennet bt. Torbalı
- Durkadın bt. Ömer
- Durpaşa (or Turpaşa) bt. Ömer
- Elif bt. Seydi Ali
- Emine bt. Bektaş
- Emine bt. Hamza
- Emine bt. Hızır
- Emine bt. Süleyman
- Fahriye bt. Cihanşah
- Fatıma bt. Abdullah
- Fatıma bt. Emirşah
- Fatıma bt. Hüseyin
- Fatıma bt. İsa
- Fatıma bt. Mehmed Çelebi
- Fatıma Hatun
- Fatıma Hatun bt. Piri
- Gülli bt. Mahmüd
- Hadice bt. Mehmed Çelebi
- Hadice bt. Menteş
- Hadice bt. Musa
- Hani bt. Mahmud
- Hani bt. Vahid
- Hatunşah bt. Hamza
- Hüsna bt. Abdullah
- Kamer bt. Mustafa
- Kamer bt. Nebi
- Kamer bt. Seydi
- Kamer bt. Seydi Ali
- Kamer bt. Timur
- Kerime bt. Ali
- Leyla bt. Hızır
- Mehriban Hatun
- Melike bt. Habib
- Melike bt. Osman
- Meryem bt. Nasuh
- Mihma bt. Mümin
- Mihri bt. Hüseyin
- Mihriban Hatun bt. Ramazan
- Müberra Hatun bt. Mümin
- Nefise bt. Hasan Toba
- Pervane bt. Abdullah
- Rabia bt. Karagöz
- Rahime bt. Mehmed
- Razıye bt. Hüseyin
- Razıye bt. Mustafa
- Safiye bt. Mümin
- Şami bt. Abdülkerim
- Satı bt. Hızır
- Şehriban bt. Süleyman
- Sekile bt. Şevki
- Selcik bt. Mehmed
- Selcik bt. Şevki
- Selime bt. Abdullah
- Selime bt. Bayram
- Selime bt. Mahmud
- Selime bt. Oğul Bey
- Selime bt. Ramazan
- Selime bt. Sinan
- Selime bt. Yusuf
- Selva bt. İsa
- Şems bt. Ahmet
- Şemse bt. Ali
- Sitti (or Siti) bt. İbrahim
- Sultan bt. Bali
- Sultan bt. Hamza
- Sultan bt. Hasan
- Sultan bt. İskender
- Ümmi bt. Bekir
- Ümmi bt. Karabaş
- Ümmi bt. Karabaş Ali
- Ümmi bt. Yunus
- Ümmi Hatün bt. Seca’
- Ünzile bt. Cihanşah
- Ünzile bt. Hüdayi
- Ünzile bt. Murad
- Zahide bt. Mahmud
- Ziyade bt. Bali
Greek Women
These women were described as zimmi, a term that broadly refers to any non-Muslim living in Muslim lands, but at this time usually referred to Greek Catholics. The identifiable names are a mix of Turkicized Greek (Arkodiye, Efersine, Engeline, Marola, Todora) and Turkish (Diyane, Döğne, Erdöğe, Sultane) with the occasional Persian name (Cennet) tossed in.
- Arkodiye
- Arkonya
- Atalyos
- Cennet
- Diyane (or Deyyane)
- Döğne (possibly the same name as Döne)
- Efersine
- Engeline
- Erdöğe
- Evine
- Firenko
- Gületse
- Gürce (or Kerce)
- Harsafine/Hırsafine
- Leğri
- Marola
- Münkise
- Sakine Marole (“Calm/Quiet Marole”)
- Şemniye
- Sultane
- Tarmakad
- Todora
- Uzgori
- Yavone
The raw data contains the names of all women whose names appeared with a patronymic. There were no duplicates to remove.
Raw Data for Greek Women
- Atalyos bt. Efsari
- Diyane bt. Torki Arya
- Döğne bt. Yorgi
- Efersine bt. Körtegi
- Evine bt. Kosta
- Firenko bt. Bulata
- Gürce bt. Teranoz
- Harsafine bt. Aleksi
- Kerce bt. Terenoz
- Kostantıniyye bt. Nikola
- Münkise bt. Yani
- Sakine Marole bt. Kosta?
- Şemniye bt. Dimitri
- Sultane bt. Yani
- Todora bt. Fehami
- Uzgori bt. Suvasdos
- Yavone bt. Yorgi
Enslaved or Freed Women
Only one woman was identified as a slave, “Mısıri’l-asl Mercani nam ‘arab-ı abık-ı cariye,” “an elderly Black Egyptian slave named Mercani.” The name Mercani, “coral,” follows the empire-wide custom of naming female slaves after gems and precious stones.
Two women’s names gave me pause: Hürrem bint Abdullah and Pervane bint Abdullah. “Bin/bint Abdullah” means that a person has converted to Islam, exchanging their birth name for a Muslim personal name and replacing the name of their father with “Abdullah.” Upon conversion, free women usually received Arabic-derived names of religious figures or moral virtues, but enslaved women frequently received fanciful Turkish or Persian names that marked them as slaves. Hürrem, a Persian word meaning “cheerful,” and Pervane, a Persian word meaning “moth” (“like a moth to the flame of passion”), are two such names. There’s nothing in these women’s cases that clearly states they were freed slaves, but the connection between those names, their conversion status, and slavery is strong enough for me to pull their names out of the list of free Muslim women’s names.
Bibliography
Sönmezişik , Züleyha Yördem. Bursa A-119 Numarali Şer’iyye Sicili Tahlil ve Transkripsiyonu. Master’s thesis. İstanbul Üniversitesi: Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, 2001.