Turkish girls names that work in the UK?

[sel2223]

Not sure what we're having yet but starting to think about names for our half Turkish / half British baby and would prefer a Turkish name that will work in the UK.

We've got a few boys names we like but struggling with girls names.

Don't want anything beginning or ending with the letter 'A' as will be too similar to DD1. Nothing with the letter 'C' in it or any special characters from the Turkish alphabet (ç, ș, I, ģ)

Kind of like Emel or Emine (pronounced Em-een-eh) with nn Emmy as a bit of a tribute to my best friend of 35 years, Emma) - would love to hear honest opinions on that as not planning to discuss with anyone IRL

Open to other suggestions? I feel like I've seen hundreds of Turkish girls names but maybe I've missed the perfect one!

Love Defne but this is our nieces name unfortunately

Doesn't fit your criteria but I think Saliha is lovely

Well, we found out it's another girl 🩷🥰

Typical though when we so easily agreed on a boys name 🤣

Our favourites girls names at the moment (not strictly Turkish but work in both countries) are:

Sofia
Leila
Lia
Jayda

I know they all end in 'A' but I've struggled to find anything I like that doesn't 🤣 they sound different to DD1 name so I think would be OK.

Any thoughts on these names?

Sofia and Leila are both gorgeous. ❤️

Lia is OK.

I don't like Jayda at all, it makes me think of Jayda Fransen who is a Britain First leader.

I love Sofia, Leila and Lia 😊

Elif ve Ekin cok guzel!

Apologies if that's wrong, blame Duolingo.
However, I can fluently tell you my cat has a fancy scarf.

Yasemin
Betul is cute?

Sorry, I've now read OPs posts properly...

Leila & Lia get my vote.

Leila then Sofia

Hasibe... Ha. See. Beh

I have a Yasmin and a Hanna. Hanna could have been either a Sofia or Layla!

I like Alma too.

Hülya
Cihan

Both adults with Turkish heritage that I know who were born and grew up in the UK. People often assume that Hülya is a Spanish “Julia” when she says it but it’s not a big issue for her.

Great names - DD1's middle name is Jasmine and my stepsister is Hannah so they're both out for us unfortunately.

Alma is lovely but we don't want a name beginning with 'A' as I'm not a fan of siblings with the same initial. That rules out a lot of Turkish girls names!

Evet! That was perfect 🥰

Elif and Ekin both gorgeous but can't use them unfortunately. Jasmine is our daughters middle name so too close

Thank you, I'm keen to avoid any special characters though as it's just an extra layer of complication.

Cihan for example is pronounced Jee-han in Turkish

Alara
Aylin
Lara
Miray
Selin
Sibel

I know! My friend just tells people it’s pronounced Jee-Han. Job done.

Hülya doesn’t always put the dots above the ü.

Yes, it wouldn't bother a lot of people. Just a personal preference for me that I don't want any special characters.

My daughters name is easy to pronounce in both languages and we love that so looking for similar.

Haha just had to comment - I’m half Turkish half English - my nene is Emine so my parents named me Emma. Probably doesn’t help you.

Nefes (pronounced Nef-ez)
Asiye (As-ee-ya)
Lale (Lar-lay)

Ah that's so lovely! Your parents had good taste 🥰

Betul

I do like Lale (tulip), although I'd probably anglicise it and add an 'H' on the end to help with pronunciation.
Otherwise it would just end up rhyming with 'sale" or 'whale'

I know an adult Laleh living in the UK (she added the 'H' on herself officially when she turned 18)

Leila was on our shortlist, I love that name. Didem is also a nice name.

Ezgi? Sera?

What about:
Nilufer
Irem
Meltem
Sanem