Turkish name
Turkish name
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Turkish name

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Turkish name

A Turkish name consists of an ad or an isim (given name; plural adlar and isimler) and a soyadı or soyisim (surname). Turkish names exist in a "full name" format. While there is only one soyadı (surname) in the full name there may be more than one ad (given name). Married women may carry both their maiden and husband's surnames. The soyadı is written as the last element of the full name, after all given names (except that official documents related to registration matters often use the format "Soyadı, Adı").

At least one name, often two but very rarely more, are given to a person at birth. Newly given names are allowed up to three words. Most names are gender-specific: Oğuz is strictly for males, Tuğçe only for females. But many Turkish names are unisex. Many modern given names (such as Deniz, "sea"; or Ülkü, "ideal") are given to newborns of either sex.

Among the common examples of the many unisex names in Turkey include Aytaç, Deniz, Derya, Evren, Evrim, Özgür, and Yücel. Unlike English unisex names, most Turkish unisex names have been traditionally used for both genders. However, some unisex names are used more for one gender (Derya is used more for girls, whereas Aytaç is used more for boys). Names are given to babies by their parents and then registered in "The Central Civil Registration System" (MERNIS) while preparing the baby's identity document at the birth registration office of the district's governorship.

Turkish names are often words with specific meanings in the Turkish language.

Most Turkish names can easily be differentiated from others, except those of other Turkic nations, particularly Azerbaijan (see Azerbaijani name), especially if they are of pure Turkic origin such as Ersen. The Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet of 1928, in force as decreed by article 174 of the Constitution of Turkey, prescribes that only letters in the Turkish alphabet may be used on birth certificates. As the Turkish alphabet has no Q, W, X, or other symbols, names including those cannot be officially given unless they are transliterated into Turkish.

Ideological concerns of the families can also affect naming behaviour. Some religious families give first or second names of Arabic origin, which can be names of important figures in the religion of Islam such as Muhammed and Ali. The Arabic-origin names may also be adjectives such as Münci and Mebrure. Some of these names have evolved in time, differentiating from the Arabic original, as in the case of Mehmet (although the original name [Muhammed] also began to be used after the switch to the Latin alphabet distinguished the two spellings). Another change is for linguistic reasons such as in the case of Vahdettin (from Vahideddin), Sadettin (from Sa'adeddin), or Nurettin (from Nureddin).

Some Turkish people with multiple given names are commonly referred to with just one of these names, while others are referred to with both. For example, the writer Ferit Orhan Pamuk is commonly known simply as Orhan Pamuk, but another writer, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, is known with both given names. Many Turkish people with more than one given name, like Orhan Pamuk, are often known and called by the name preceding their surname, as opposed to Western naming conventions. Turkish spells two-part names separately, which is different from some other Turkic languages, like Tatar (Möxəmmətğayaz: Muhammed Ayaz). Thus, "Ayaz” in a name like Muhammed Ayaz İshaki is not exactly a middle name as usually understood in European context[specify].

Some of the given names from earlier periods are still in use such as Öner and Rasih.

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