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Baby names

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Original poster

Turkish names - how do these sound to an English ear?

66 replies

smyrnamum · 03/10/2017 08:40

DH is Turkish and we are struggling to come up with names for DD2. DD1 was easy as it was a family name that is easily pronounced in English and has an even easier nickname. This time around not so simple!

Our shortlist so far:

Selin (sounds like "Celine")
Elif (eh-leaf)
Defne (def-neh - Turkish version of Daphne)
Aylin (sounds like "Eileen")

Thoughts?

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GinIsIn · 09/11/2017 03:26

I like Selima, but I LOVE Maral, from Cote's list

ThisNameNow · 09/11/2017 01:19

I think all the names are lovely. Elif and Defne are my favourites with Defne taking the top spot.

I don't think they will be mistaken for 'younique' spelling names. If your D.C. are have a Turkish surname it would be even less likely.

ShovingLeopard · 09/11/2017 01:00

I like Selin best, though they are all lovely. The Turkish name I really love is Deniz, which I think means something to do with the sea. I love how the Turkish names all mean something.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 09/11/2017 00:52

Or Selin even...

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 09/11/2017 00:51

I like Elif or Serin best.

I know a Nisa which I like (although I think it's short for something?).

PumpkinSquash · 09/11/2017 00:42

I really like Selin.

icantgetnosleep5 · 07/11/2017 19:38

LOVE Elif

TeshiB · 07/11/2017 17:24

I like Elif the best.

Superspooky · 07/11/2017 17:16

Elif is gorgeous! And even if she ends up having to spell it regularly it's only the 4 letters so not too arduous Smile

Missingstreetlife · 22/10/2017 21:34

Just choose one you love and don't worry about lazy people who can't spell.

dementedma · 22/10/2017 21:32

I know a little Emel. Her brother is Emre

LilyPondFrog · 22/10/2017 21:29

Selin is my favourite from your list

Mrsknackered · 22/10/2017 21:28

Love Elif, Defne and Selin.

Esra is my absolute favourite Turkish girls name. (Even with the unfortunate word it spells backwards)

Greekisland · 22/10/2017 19:10

I have two boys with Turkish names. Turkish husband and lived there for many years. So many lovely Turkish girls names that I never got to use, my favourites being Emel and Sevda. Also like Lara and Sevil. Do like Selin though.

Acidophilus · 05/10/2017 16:05

I know a gorgeous little Turkish girl called Ayse which works well in English and a like Meltem which is sweet. Also an Idil which I like too.

Elif is my favourite of your list. It reminds me of Elfie.

thegreylady · 04/10/2017 23:17

My dgd is Turkish. Her name is Serra which we love. Elif is pretty and Selin and I like Alara. My ddil is Hatice pronounced Hattiejay and her mum is Senay pronounced Sheneye.

CoteDAzur · 04/10/2017 13:55

Oh yes, Turkish girls' names are very pleasant and much loved by Anglophones.

Boys' names, on the other hand.... Shock Grin

starkid · 04/10/2017 13:17

I like Selin and Aylin the best out of those, and are pronounced pretty similar to how they look.

ChocolateCrunch · 04/10/2017 07:44

Turkish names are lovely, I've never heard any before. From OP's and CoteDAzur's lists, I like:

Elif
Aylin
Maral
Alara

CoteDAzur · 04/10/2017 06:34

There are also:

Irem (garden of eden)
Eda (elegance)
Alara (red ornament)
Melisa (an aromatic plant)

Joeybee · 04/10/2017 03:36

They are really nice names. My only concern would be that in the UK the child would constantly be having to spell out and tell people how to pronounce their name. Elif and Aylin are SO cute.

MangosteenSoda · 04/10/2017 03:05

Another vote for Elif followed by Selin.

I once met a Turkish girl called Melis (Melise) which I thought was very pretty.

Original poster
smyrnamum · 04/10/2017 02:49

Thanks everyone! I showed this thread to DH. He's leaning towards Selin but my favorite is Elif - which he thought English speakers would really struggle with.

Agree with CoteDAzur we are not going to change any spellings as Turkish is a phonetic language so it changes the Turkish pronunciation. Additionally some changes in tense/sentence structure are made by adding vowels so it really changes it to something else.

Cote we considered Naz but there's a rapper named Nas that DH used to love as a teenager and he worried people would think we named the baby after the rapper! I like Peri but DH said no way as is has a "stupid" meaning (fairy). I really like Alev and hadn't heard it, going to ask DH about it!

Unfortunately seems half the Turks we know named their baby girls Ayla recently so that's off the table.

OP posts:
Toomanypackingboxes · 03/10/2017 22:03

Defne is the only one I would struggle with the pronunciation of without some help and I find it a little awkward to say but I would just pick the one you like best.

HeteronormativeHaybales · 03/10/2017 21:45

Selin is lovely, and I adore Seda from Cote's list. I knew a Seza (say-za) in a former life. Quite liked that too.

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