English sounding Turkish names?

[ChipmunksInAttic]

Hello,

I’m expecting my second son, and trying to pick a name, which is really difficult!

Our favorite at this moment is “Efe”, and “Aras” as a middle name. What do you think about those names? Anything to make fun of at school? Efe reads like Eh-fe (as in cafe) and Aras is like Ah-ras.

Another name we thought about were Ates (sounds Atesh).

My older one is called “Deniz” by the way, so it’s not an option anymore :)

Thanks in advance!

[Sophronia]

Evren
Aydin
Adem
Emre
Hasan
Ender
Kasim
Kemal
Osman
Sami

[Skyejuly]

Sofien?

[Sidneythecam]

Iyaz

I met a lovely Turkish man once called İmam

His name has stayed with me for nearly twenty years

[wizzywig]

I was going to say aydin as someone before had before

[ChipmunksInAttic]

Thanks for the comments. Lots of people suggested Aydin but we don’t quite like it, not very modern sounding. Similarly, Hasan, Adem, Kasim, Osman sounds very old fashioned in Turkish.

I have never heard someone named Imam by the way, it means muslim leader working in a mosque, equivalent of priest :) And I don’t want any name that sounds religious as well, we are not believers...

[MemorialBeach]

Ediz
Ozkan

[7YearsOfBlood]

Devrim

[CoteDAzur]

OP - In your place, I would choose a name that has no religious/Arabic/Persian origins AND has no Turkish characters like ö and ç, to make life for your DS.

That means no Aydin, Kemal, Kasim, Mehmet, or Ali, for example.

We loved Ates and would have chosen it for DS, save for the Turkish character at the end that you can't write in English and the fact that everyone would pronounce it as hates without h.

I had a rather long thread on this subject some years ago, which you might like to read.

[CoteDAzur]

"Sofien?"

If that's a name, it's not a Turkish one.

[CoteDAzur]

"Devrim"

Devrim means "Revolution" and always marks someone as having parents who were revolutionary communists before the coup d'état in 1980, when pro-Soviet communists and nationalist fascists were fighting it out on the streets.

[ChipmunksInAttic]

Thanks CoteDAzur! You are right and this all makes it more tricky :)
I think we'll end up with Efe.

[CoteDAzur]

Sorry I meant "to make life easier for your DS".

[fannyanddick]

Efe is a lovely name.

[thegreylady]

Can pronounced Jan?

[Hamiltoes]

Koray - pronounced Koh-rye

Met a lovely Turkish man with that name.

Is Efe not beer over there?

[ChipmunksInAttic]

Efes is the beer brand :)

For Can, I’m worried people will pronounce it like can and make fun of it.

Koray might be a good one!

[Skyejuly]

Sofien is my nephews name! It's certainly a name!

It is however Tunisian I think, not Turkish. Sorry.

[Dandelionrarrrr]

Cem (like Jem)

[notaflyingmonkey]

I liked Idris as it works in both languages.

I think the trick is to find a Turkish name that works phonetically in English - assuming he is going to be brought up here - as well as thinking of any English language connotations with the sound of the name. And perhaps most importantly what his nickname will be at school.

[NaughtToThreeSadOnions]

Cenk (Jenk) i always thought it sounded a bit like jack or jake.

But i might be biased as i went to turkey when i was about 8 to visit a friend of my mums who emigrated out there and it was her sons name so its possiably about the only turkish name i know

[FennyBridges]

Ozer?

[CoteDAzur]

Koray definitely works.

Names that end in -han and -kan mostly do, too:
Erkan
Serkan
Hakan
Serhan
Erhan

[coralush]

Elif

[ShiningWhit]

I don't know any female Elifs

Kurt
Raif
Reis
Deniz

[ShiningWhit]

Cenk is a disaster.
All these lovely names ruined by the alphabet!

Alp is one I love but not sure if others would make fun of it.