Thoughts on the name 'Aslan'

[sel2223]

My OH is Turkish and we've trying to agree on a name for a little boy (we have a girls name already).

We want a Turkish name with no special characters that is easy to pronounce in both Turkish and English. Asian means 'lion' in Turkish and is also the name of the lion from the Chronicles of Narnia, which I love.

What do you think? Is it too 'out there'?

[Pangur2]

Aslan is the name of a band in Ireland who are quite big and pretty good, but known for being on heroin, so I'd say no because of that. The actual sound of the name is nice enough though.

[sel2223]

The child will have a Turkish surname but will likely be brought up in the UK so I'm keen for them to have a Turkish name. I just don't want something really traditional or old fashioned.
It's really important that it's pronounced the same in both countries and isn't too long or complicated x

[Tsubasa1]

I think Aslan is a great name, some will find it weird although I don't see it as such a big deal.
There is a Hakan in my daughters class, to me its a cool Turkish boys name and its also Scandinavian. I also like the names Deniz, Serhan and Erol.

[Tsubasa1]

I live in Turkey and ive also heard the name Atlas which is quite modern.

[sel2223]

@tsubasa1 thank you. I actually really like Hakan but the surname is 5 letters ending 'kan' so it wouldn't sound right unfortunately

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

I really like Kemal-

Kem is a great nickname and it suits both cultures.

[smeerf]

What about Volkan? Or Cem (pronounced Jem), or Deniz (means sea). Kemal is great and very meaningful (as in Mustafa Kemal Atatürk).

I like Aslan, it's very out there, it was on my longlist for DS1 but Turkish in-laws weren't keen.

[Bigearringsbigsmile]

Taylan?

Roshan? Really like this!

[Zebracat]

I love Aslan. I also like Sezer.

[Bigearringsbigsmile]

i've worked with a taylan and a roshan -nice kids!

[sel2223]

@mumsiedarlingrevolta I like kemal too (although kem makes me think of love island). I wouldn't rule it out though.
The only problem is we know quite a few kemals over here so would it seem like we were naming our child after them? They're not family or really close friends - one is OH's boss

[LemonScentedStickyBat]

From a person with a multi cultural family - there is no need to get hung up on a name being pronounced and spelt exactly the same in both cultures, no special characters etc. Both sides will cope just fine and so will your son.

[NameChange30]

Atlas is a very cool name but isn't it Greek?

[Nonnymum]

I wouldn't because all I think of when I hear it is its the name of the lion from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe '. It's a very popular book, TV series, film series so will be bound to ocme up again and again.

[LemonScentedStickyBat]

Oh and people here will get used to Aslan if you use it, it’s a great name.

[sel2223]

@smeerf is your partner Turkish? I'm trying to avoid special characters like 'c' and OH has ruled out Volkan and Deniz. See my.last comment re Kemal.

[Mamabear88]

I'm not keen sorry, I just think of the lion that dies in Narnia. I have a friend who is married to a Turkish man and their DS is Efehan. Don't know what you think of that?

[mummabubs]

For what it's worth OP I really like Aslan. We chose a Scandinavian boys name that happens to feature in the Hobbit- we find that some people assume we named our son after the Tolkien character, most haven't heard of the name before and assume we made it up... But in any eventuality we love the name and after a while your child just becomes the name you pick for them and you stop finding it weird if that makes any sense!

If you both love Aslan I say go for it!

[Charley50]

I quite like it. Doesn't Theo mean God as well? And that's a well-used name.

[Tsubasa1]

How about Efe? Another poster suggested Efehan, and it came to my mind.

[charley50]

Osman and shorten it to Ozzie?

[sel2223]

@Bigearringsbigsmile I don't want a name beginning with T as the surname behind with T. Roshan is nice though - not come across that one before

@Zebracat his nephew is Sezer. I love that.

@LemonScentedStickyBat thank you. I know it's not that big a deal about special characters etc but DC will have an unusual enough name as it is so don't want to make it more difficult with spelling/pronunciation issues. I have a slightly unusual name and spend my life correcting people lol

[sel2223]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it xx

[dontcallmelen]

I know two little boys with Turkish parents who are named Emre & Edizz always thought they were nice names.

[MAndSReadyMealForOne]

I like Aslan