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Baby names

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Original poster

Thoughts on the following Turkish names:

105 replies

user1470907786 · 07/05/2025 10:11

Hi there

Hoping for some thoughts on the following boy and girl names (mainly how you think they are pronounced upon reading them and how they sound to a non-turkish ear)?

We have lived in UK our entire lives and are from a Turkish background and have a son with a Turkish name. Would greatly appreciate any feedback! I like names with e’s and r’s as you can probably tell :-)

Boy names:

Reyan / Reyyan
Evren
Kerem
Reis

Girl names:

Meryem
Serenay
Esra
Serin
Dilara

Thank you! 🙏🏻

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Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 12:08

Crunk · 09/05/2025 11:38

Lovely names! Id imagine that most English people would assume Reis = Rhys/Reece though.

have you ruled out Emre? (Lovely name and meaning)

Emre is my favourite and I already have a DS… 😉

OP posts:
KarlaKK · 09/05/2025 12:04

Lovely names. Is Reis pronounced Ray-ees? I like it.

I always liked Ruya for a girl with two dots above the u - means dream, I believe.

BangersAndGnash · 09/05/2025 11:40

Reyan / Reyyan: I would say Ray-en. But seems so close to Ryan and might be mistaken for a Ryan Yooneek name.

Evren - Ev-run , first syllable stress
Kerem - Ke-rem , ditto but it might be Ke-reeem
Reis - Reece , common uk name

Girl names:
Meryem - Like Miriam but with a e at the beginning . Lovely name
Serenay - like serenade without the d. Lovely name
Esra - Ezra, like the Hebrew boys name
Serin - Serin
Dilara - Dill-ara. Danger of being called delirious at school. My least favourite.

Crunk · 09/05/2025 11:38

Lovely names! Id imagine that most English people would assume Reis = Rhys/Reece though.

have you ruled out Emre? (Lovely name and meaning)

Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 11:32

whatcanthematterbe81 · 09/05/2025 08:30

Ooh Turkish names are lovely

That’s very kind of you to say - there are alot of gorgeous sounding ones but many contain turkish letters which I won’t get into 😂

OP posts:
Emanwenym · 09/05/2025 09:52

@Andoutcomethewolves , given that you were talking about a Welsh name and you didn't suggest using an 'easier' spelling, I'm not sure why you took it personally? Smile It could be more popular in your area. I don't know any Serens, but I'm from a predominantly Welsh-speaking area, and it's not in the style of names that's popular.

It was the using Maryam instead of Meryem (OK, neither English but YKWIM). OP wants a Turkish name, not an Arabic one.

Andoutcomethewolves · 09/05/2025 09:33

Emanwenym · 09/05/2025 09:16

Suggesting using a more English monoglot friendly spelling comes across as being culturally insensitive.

Seren isn't the top girl's name in Wales, it's not even in the top 10. It's quite popular though, and it might be very popular in some regions.

Baby names in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

I wasn't suggesting using an anglisiced name at all? I know four Serens under ten in Bristol and five in Cardiff so thought it was popular. I love the name! Just think in my circle of friends people would assume the Seren spelling, how is that culturally insensitive (obviously it's not an issue, I get 'Joyce' all the time which is not my name but for some people it's an issue to have their name mispronounced or misspelt and that is literally what the OP has asked)

alexdgr8 · 09/05/2025 09:29

Dilara does sound like a disease or a drug for a disease.

alexdgr8 · 09/05/2025 09:28

Serin sounds too close to sarin to me. The poison gas.
Elif would be called elf and then goblin as a put down.
Meryam is a good name.
No strong views on the others.

Emanwenym · 09/05/2025 09:16

Suggesting using a more English monoglot friendly spelling comes across as being culturally insensitive.

Seren isn't the top girl's name in Wales, it's not even in the top 10. It's quite popular though, and it might be very popular in some regions.

Baby names in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

Emanwenym · 09/05/2025 09:04

We aren’t worried about the names sounding too much like any other names, all names somehow sound like others in the grand scheme of things :-)
I wouldn't worry about it either but my name gets mixed up with a similar name sometimes, so I have to explain the spelling, and even get comments like 'Why did your parents not spell it properly?' (and worse)

Andoutcomethewolves · 09/05/2025 09:01

Serin is lovely but may get misspelled as Seren if that bothers you (think it's the most popular name now in Wales and popular too in England)

Serenay is very pretty - memorable and easy to pronounce

Kerem is lovely for a boy

Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:31

TheTealZebra · 09/05/2025 08:07

What about Azra? There is a lovely girl with that name in my son's class, it sounds beautiful and not as similar to Ezra pronunciation wise

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Love Azra when pronounced the non-Turkish way but it’s quite harsh when pronounced the Turkish way and sound more masculine.

Strangely, Esra sounds more feminine to Turkish ears. It’s been so interesting to see the differences in how the names come across!

OP posts:
whatcanthematterbe81 · 09/05/2025 08:30

Ooh Turkish names are lovely

Jennifershuffles · 09/05/2025 08:27

I'm English but live in a multicultural area and used to teach in classes where there would always be a few Turkish kids. I like Kerem for a boy and Meryem and Serin for a girl. Esra makes me think of the similar boys name, but whatever you choose it will soon just make everyone think of your baby.
Congratulations!

Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:25

theunbreakablecleopatrajones · 07/05/2025 21:05

I’d agree

Although for a girl Maryam is my favourite (if that spelling works for you it seems to be the most popular here)

Show quote history

We cannot use the Maryam spelling as it doesn’t sound very nice when pronounced phonetically in Turkish and would cause alot of confusion in our families.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:21

As a side note, I will likely use two of each in a first and middle name combo as our DS also has two names.

Any opinions on which combos look good?

Starting to consider Reis as the middle name to one of the two syllable names.

OP posts:
Shelby2010 · 09/05/2025 08:19

Evren & Serin are the nicest.

Dilara does sound like an unpleasant medical drug or device - not sure why!

Serenay - will get mispronounced with the ‘ay’ at the end sounding like Serena gone wrong. The Turkish way of pronouncing it with ‘eye’ sounds lovely though.

Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:19

Emanwenym · 07/05/2025 14:25

@user1470907786 , I live somewhere multicultural and Rayyan/Rayan and Maryam are popular names. There are all sorts of names, so I'd probably ask how they say their name.

Is the surname Turkish?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Yes, the surname is Turkish.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:17

Johaanah · 07/05/2025 11:43

I like them all other than Meryem - it's quite old fashioned I feel, Kerem and Esra are my favourites from your list.

Meryem is an old name, it is the Turkish derivative of Mary.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:15

Cedrabbage · 07/05/2025 19:59

Dilara sounds like dilate (really not good). Serenay like serenade - hmm if you're into that. The rest are lovely.

Haha I don’t actually mind Serenade though the correct pronunciation of Serenay doesn’t sound like Serenade.

The “ay” is pronounced like the word “eye” though we aren’t fussed about it being pronounced the alternative way. Trying to go for names where we don’t mind the alternative pronunciations.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:13

XploringEurope · 07/05/2025 19:46

Boy names all seem easy to pronounce, except Reis I paused and decided “Reese”. For that reason I prefer the other boy names.

Girl names the only 2 I liked less are Serenay and Esra. Serenay because it somehow seems more unusual, Esra because I associate it as a boy’s name (e.g. Ezra Klein).

Great names though!

Thanks ☺️

OP posts:
Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:13

Portakalkedi · 07/05/2025 19:33

what about Deniz?

Thanks for the suggestion 😊
I don’t like names that end in “z” very much as it feels like a harsh ending to me and our surname is already quite a harsh sounding name with the double k.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1470907786 · 09/05/2025 08:10

renoleno · 07/05/2025 11:43

Evren, Kerem, Serin and Dilara are unusual, roll off the tongue well for a non Turkish speaker like myself, sound lovely and more Turkish to me than the others which could also be Jewish or Arabic/Persian/South Asian. The hardest to pronounce from all those is Reyyan and Reis as they’ll be called Ryan and Reece with no reference to their heritage.

Thanks!

Interesting you say this as the names you mention are in fact from Turkish origin whereas some of them, eg Meryem is the Turkish variant of the Arabic Maryam!
It’s so helpful to get these opinions and reactions to the names.

Does Serenay does not appear to be Turkish? Serenay is a Turkish root name like the 4 you mentioned so interesting that it doesn’t appear Turkish 🤔

OP posts:
bringonyourwreckingball · 09/05/2025 08:09

Serin is a beautiful name