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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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Iusedtobecarmen · 03/10/2017 21:40

I like them all but Defne the most

Probably as it's the least English sounding name
And i.understand Turkish,so not difficult to me

My fave TUrkish girls name.though is Lale
One of my dc has a Turkish middle name. Not one that a non Turkish speaker would necessarily know how to pronounce.
Oh none of us are Turkish!

CoteDAzur · 03/10/2017 21:37

"Would you think about adding an ‘e’ to the end of Selin to make pronunciation more obvious?"

You can't add letters to Turkish names (or words in general) because that letter would never be silent and it would either make the word meaningless or completely change its meaning.

For example, Seline would mean "To Selin".

CoteDAzur · 03/10/2017 21:33

No, Lal is a girl's name. It is absolutely not a unisex name.

Lal means 'ruby'. The word was used in Ottoman poetry for women's red lips.

slippermaiden · 03/10/2017 21:33

All sound great. I have a Turkish friend, she is called Nilufer, which I think is so pretty.

Hulababy · 03/10/2017 21:12

I have a male cousin called Lal, pronounced with a longer /ah/ sound. Assume it is unisex as a name.

HouseworkIsAPain · 03/10/2017 21:12

Would you think about adding an ‘e’ to the end of Selin to make pronunciation more obvious?

I have a name that is phonetically different to actua pronunciation. I wish my parents had given me a name that doesn’t require me to tell people how to say it.

MaisyPops · 03/10/2017 21:09

Selin and Elif are both lovely.

CoteDAzur · 03/10/2017 21:07

Sorry about some of the definitions in my earlier post. I copy/pasted it from an earlier thread. Obviously you don't need to ask your mum anything Smile

MrsWhirly · 03/10/2017 21:06

What about Ayda? I like Selin best from your list and Defne the least x

grasspigeons · 03/10/2017 21:03

I like all of them but probably Elif best.
I also like Azra

alltheworld · 03/10/2017 20:59

Emine?

CoteDAzur · 03/10/2017 20:57

Selin is probably your best bet out of the shortlist in the OP.

Elif is not pronounced eh-leaf. The 'i' is short as in 'fit'.

Defne and Aylin will make life difficult for her, as she will have to spell out her name for the rest of her life. Also, Defne means laurel or bay - the herb often used in cooking fish & meat.

Don't forget: All Turkish names mean something, and most are words currently used in everyday speech - not only various flower names and sea, water, free, etc but also war, peace, etc.

How about these?

Ayla (light around stars)
Alev (flame)
Buse (kiss)
Eda (elegance - close enough translation)
Ezgi (melody)
Hayal (waking dream)
Izim (my path/the trail I left behind - sorry, I'm really bad at translating)
Lal (shiny & dark red color)
Lale (tulip)
Maral (female deer)
Meltem (breeze)
Mey (wine - not the usual word for 'wine' but a word sometimes used in poems)
Naz (not sure if there is a word for this in English - a very feminine behaviour, where we want our admirers to keep asking us out and we keep saying 'no', hoping they will keep asking. Better ask your mum for explanation. Pretty name, though)
Nehir (river)
Oya (elaborate needlework)
Peri (fairy)
Seda (pleasant sound)
Sema (sky)
Sevgi (love)

Hulababy · 03/10/2017 20:53

On first seeing them writing down (I teach, so often that is the first time I see a name and have to try to pronounce it), these would be my first attempts:

Selin - S-e-lin (phonetically)
Elif - Eh-l-i-f (I'd initially go for a short /e/ and /i/ sound)
Defne - Def-nee (I'd have added a longer /ee/ sound at the end, because the constantan was ending the name I think
Aylin - Ay-lin (saying a/ay/ as in pay and with a short /i/ sound)

However, once told I'd do my best to remember and use the correct pronunciation thereafter.

Orangedragonfly · 03/10/2017 20:47

Elif or Aylin.

Foniks · 03/10/2017 20:38

All sound lovely to me. But then I usually love most Turkish names I hear and grew up with lots of Turkish kids so maybe I don't hear it how people who didn't will hear it?. I think Selin and Aylin are the best in your list, but I do like all of them. S names and A names look quite nice written down anyway. You've got good taste in names by the way, because they're all really nice!

MikeUniformMike · 03/10/2017 20:26

All lovely. I like Elif best.

IrenetheQuaint · 03/10/2017 20:24

Selin and Elif are both lovely.

Defne is a bit 'youneek' for my taste and Aylin isn't quite as pretty - plus Eileen is very out of fashion at the moment, though I daresay it will be back before long.

user1459464195 · 03/10/2017 20:20

Elif is really lovely, although I think you really can't go wrong with any of your selection.

Flimp · 03/10/2017 15:08

I really like Elif too actually. I think that’s the best one because it can’t be mistaken for another name.

Sophronia · 03/10/2017 14:48

I like Selin best

MollyHuaCha · 03/10/2017 10:47
  • Lovely
MollyHuaCha · 03/10/2017 10:47

Selina has a lively sound to it.

Chaffinch4 · 03/10/2017 10:27

Selin and Elif are both lovely. I don't think the spellings would be a huge problem.

Joinourclub · 03/10/2017 10:07

All lovely names

Ttbb · 03/10/2017 10:02

I really like Defne

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