Names by Meaning
Every name under these headings has a page whose recorded meaning carries that sense. Nothing here is inferred from how a name looks or sounds.
Names whose documented meaning is a ruler, lord, prince or noble status, including Turkic titles such as khan, bek and tegin.
Moon
22Names built on the Turkic word for the moon (ay / oy), one of the most productive elements in Turkic given names, especially for girls.
Names whose documented meaning is a natural feature or season, such as spring, mountain or water.
Light
16Names whose documented meaning refers to light, radiance or brightness. In Turkic naming this field is dominated by the Arabic loanword nur, but native Turkic words for brightness also occur.
Flowers
14Names whose documented meaning is a flower or blossom, most often through the Persian loanword gül (rose, flower) that is widespread across Turkic languages.
Names whose documented meaning is strength, firmness, bravery or heroism.
Names whose documented meaning refers to life, the soul or vitality, for example through Persian jān (can / jan).
Names whose documented meaning is religious: faith, piety, devotion or a religious title. Many are Arabic in origin.
Animals
10Names whose documented meaning is an animal, most often animals associated with strength in Turkic tradition such as the lion or wolf.
Names whose documented meaning is beauty, beautiful appearance or grace, frequently from Arabic and Persian loanwords.
Names whose documented meaning is joy, happiness, good fortune or blessing.
Names whose documented meaning is wisdom, intelligence, learning or knowledge.
More themes
Smaller meaning groups
How these lists are built
A name appears under a theme because its recorded meaning says so, not because of its letters or its sound. Of the 1,164 published names that have a meaning, 715 are Documented by a cited source, 449 are Likely and 0 come from our own editorial research. Each theme page shows the label for every name, so you can decide how much weight to give it.
A name can sit under several themes, because many Turkic names combine two ideas: a compound such as moon + noble belongs with both the moon names and the noble names. Themes with fewer than two published names are left out of this page, and counts change whenever a name is published or corrected. Read the editorial policy for the rules, or open Sources and methodology for the data behind them.