Turkish/Bengali/English family - need boys name help

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

So tis is our ethnic mix at home. The name doesnt so much hve to work in Englsh as it needs to be easily pronouncable since after 30 years my mum still cannot pronounce most of my dads familiys names.

Both other sons have short 4 letter easy names.

We veer towards Muslim names so that it works in Turkey and Bangladesh.

So far the closest we have come is:

Rafi
Mikhail

I dont want traditional so no Mustafa's etc.

Asif
Amir
Riaz
Aadam
Daniyal

Love Rafi.

Really love it.

spidookly - that makes me feel good, i keep thinking is it to nicknamy?

Mikhail is a Russian orthodox name (after arch-angel Mikhail, or Michael in English). I personally love it, but I am an orthodox christian...

A few Turkish names:

Halil
Ozan
Mehmet
Omer
Can (pronouced as Jon)
Ahmet or Amet
Selim
Oktay
Ersin
Ege

Serkan? Cem? Cengis?

Really like Rafi.

Mikhail is also the Islamic version of Michael so will work.

Problem with some of the others is too Turkish and not "good" enough for the Bengali section of the family. Such a drama really.

Can and Halil both DSss middle names so they are out.

Oh I mention Cem on a daily basis.... so far he has no everytime. Am persevering.

What about Yalin, Rustem/Rustam, Adil, Wissam/Wassim, Nizar, Nikhal, Firaz, Jamal/Jamil, Askar?
Rafi is very nice. I assume it is a short form of Rafail?

I think if you name your baby Mikhail most people would think his family has Russian or East European roots... It is a very nice name, though.

I don't think Rafi is too nicknamey.

It's swoonsome.

What about Levent Özdel?

John
Dave
Jack
Toby

I love Rafi, it's a fabulous name! Didn't know it was Arabic, though.

I know a half Armenian Raffi and I absolutely love it. It's a very cool name.

Rafi is great.

Like Rafi but prefer Rafiq.

Adam
Sami
Zakir (Zak)

Rafi is fab.

And I love Omar too.

Such a shame Osama no longer really a viable name as is very nice.

Also Selman/Salman?

And Naz (which is presumably short for something?)

And Orhan is lovely - I think Turkish?

oh Yellowflowers if only I could have Orhan... DH also said no. There is an incredible musician in Turkey with this name that I would love to name my son after.

We have a very Bengali surname and things like Wasim sound veyr south asian to me (only because i grew up in a very pakistani community) and so dotn want people to be able to look at his name and assume his origins IYSWIM... I am being mega fussy I know.

Glad so many of you like Rafi though.

As far as I can tell so far Rafi is the actual name - I dislike Rafiq (and would need a k as q doesnt exist in Turkish) but Rafail might be a real option... havent come across that.

We also have two Muslim friends of friends who have used Mikail so it seems to be becoming more popular... i think it may be quite entertaining to have people guessing, I always enjoyed people guessing where I was from, although I suspect most people dont.

MyCat - teh middle name you suggest is my DS1 name - great minds

Rafi is lovely, i really like it. much prefer it than mikhail although that is a good name but rafi is so much cuter

Rafi is not Muslim nor Turkish afaik. The Rafis I have met in Turkey are all Jewish, short for Rafael, I think.

Mikhail might be technically a Muslim name (how?) but in Turkey everyone will think he is Christian. Everyone he meets, without exception.

I like Ege but it was vetoed by my husband who thought DS would be called Eggie or Egghead at school

I also proposed Cengiz to DH but he could only think of Ghenghiz Khan

Arabic Rafiq would be Refik in Turkey. A very old fashioned name. I don't think it has been popular in the last 30 years or so, which is not a bad thing.

It is so hard to find a Turkish boys' name that works in Europe, without Turkish characters or pronunciation problems. I feel for you!

Rafi's good. Also like Luqa, not sure it's Turkish, but it's definitely muslim though.

Omar would be Ömer in Turkey. Personally, I'd recommend avoiding Turkish characters as they are a pain to write on European keyboards and cause a lifetime of confusion in legal papers, airplane reservations etc.

Naz is a girls' name and isn't short for anything. It is a word used in everyday language and means feigned reluctance, "coquettishness".

Luqa is a place. The name is Luca, and it is the Italian version of Luke. Definitely not Turkish nor Muslim.

I know a Rafae who is muslim - I have to say the spelling with the the name you pointed out for your other son might sound a little too similar - both ending in the i.