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'?

[sel2223]

OH absolutely has his heart set on Aslan by the way. I'm trying to explain about Narnia and he doesn't get it at all....he doesn't understand why we would rule out a name because of a character in a book he's never heard of 🤣

[raindropsfallingonglass]

Of course I don’t think CS Lewis invented the 2name, but I think what he did with it and the other themes in that series mean that I personally would find it hard to use, knowing that in the U.K. that is likely going to be the first association a large subset of people make to the name. And, OP, I do know how tricky this is, we struggled to name our DC because we couldn’t find names that we both liked and worked in both languages

[BovaryX]

The Narnia books are openly racist
Raindrops

Narnia is a wonderful, imaginative land created by a much loved children's author. You are calling CS Lewis racist? Your accusations are totally unsubstantiated. Can you provide textual evidence from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to support your accusations?

[Lailaha]

A bit out there, but what about Fatih? Or Mustafa? (Personally, I like Kemal - and it's a very good name for a secular Turk )

I suppose Abdul is probably out if you don't want religious names? Karim too? Rahman? (I appreciate these are a bit more Arabic than Turkish, but as you don't want "difficult" letters or T as an initial, that wipes out a good few )

Mehmet could be a possibility? Burak? Enes?

[HermioneWeasley]

I like it, and given your DH’s heritage it’s completely appropriate

You could go for Cem but spell it Jem if you live here?

I like Selim and Sinan

[Ikeameatballs]

I like Aslan.

I get the whole TCON thing but honestly don’t think that’s as much of an issue as some posters are making out. He won’t be a child forever, lot’s of children won’t have read TCON anyway, as an adult I think it’s a name that really works and works in both cultures.

If you both like it go for it rather than compromising on something that neither of you are that keen on.

[averythinline]

Aydin is good prefer to Aslan

[oncemorewithfeeling99]

Not Aslan. It’s akin to calling your child God.

[sel2223]

@Lailaha all names loved by OH by not me I'm afraid! I just find them so old fashioned. I do like kemal but as mentioned earlier in the thread, we know a lot of kemals (including OH's boss) so not sure if it would be weird. Like we're naming DC after them.

@HermioneWeasley thanks. We've ruled out cem because of the 'c' which is pronounced differently in Turkish and English and I'm not a fan of Sinan. Selim is very similar to my name!

[sel2223]

@ikeameatballs thank you

@averythinline I like aydın but it's spelt with an 'i' without a dot and pronounced different in English and Turkish so it's a no unfortunately

[Bouledeneige]

I think other children and adults when they are friends up will take the piss. Sorry OP.

[sel2223]

@SonEtLumiere it's actually a common Arabic/turkish name so used mostly in Muslim families
'The metaphor for Jesus' came much later when CS Lewis decided to use the name as a character in a fictional story.

[sel2223]

Thanks for all the opinions, good and bad! I appreciate the honesty.

[happycamper11]

I definitely couldn't use Aslan here: the book is still too popular. I wouldn't worry about names that are pronounced differently- both my DD's names are pronounced differently in Greek than they are in English- one a sound in the English version doesn't even exist in Greek, they understand this and answer to both, they can write their names in both Greek and English.

[Marcipex]

Kemal is really nice.

[sel2223]

@happycamper11 it's just a personal thing for me. I definitely want a name written and pronounced the same in both languages

[Splodgetastic]

How about Aydemir (I am pretty sure this is also a Turkish name as well as another place I am thinking of)? To me it sounds like a strong name, also begins with an “a”. That said, it was a boyfriend’s dad’s name, so quite possible it has old man connotations...

[Foghead]

I’ve known an Aslan for 40 yrs. it’s a popular name with Arabic roots.

[sel2223]

@oncemorewithfeeling99 really? I'm not sure i agree it's akin to calling a child God lol. It's a traditional Turkish name meaning 'lion' which is probably why CS Lewis chose it as the name for the lion character in his book.
The name was around long before the book and has no religious meaning.

[sel2223]

@Splodgetastic I quite like that. 'Ay' means moon in Turkish and there are a few cool names which start with that. I'll put it to OH

[midwest]

It really is akin to calling your dc Jesus, which is done in some cultures.
It does seem a more challenging choice if you aren't immersed in the Christian faith.
It's not the same as calling a dc Hermione but not being a HP fan because of the religious links to the name.
That doesn't mean that other cultures wouldn't have a totally different take on the name but if that isn't where your dc is being raised.

[TatianaLarina]

I like Aslan. I’m not sure how many of today’s children read the LW&theW - it’s very sort of old school middle class.

[TatianaLarina]

Turkish Aslan has fuck all to do with Christianity for obvious reasons.

[clpsmum]

Narnia