301 Unique & Beautiful Turkish Girl Names With Meanings

Turkish is the official language of Turkey and it has been influenced by Arabic and Farsi. I have selected 301 beautiful Turkish baby girl names with their meanings also included.

List Of 301 Beautiful & Unique Turkish Girl Names And Their Meanings:

Ayla

Ayla is related to Aylanur and Aylin and it means “halo of light around the moon.” In Hebrew Ayla is symbolizing “oak tree.” It grew in popularity after the 2017 war film Ayla: The Daughter of War.

Dolunay

Full moon, from dolu, full, and ay.

Ilgın

Tamarisk. Ilgın in Konya province is a town known for its hot springs.

Nilay

Nilay is composed of the elements ”nil” (river Nile) and ”ay” (moon).

Elif

Elif has its origins in the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. Elif opens several chapters of the Quran via ḥurūf al-muqaṭṭaʿāt (the disconnected letters) Alif-Lām-Mīm.

Derya

Derya comes from the word “daryā” (“sea”). It is also used for boys and I actually wrote a piece about Turkish boy names.

Ebrar

”Virtuous.” It’s the Turkish form of Arabic al-Abrar, “the righteous.”

Esra

Esra comes from the Arabic isra (”the night journey”) which is also the 17th chapter of the Quran. It is pronounced as ES-rah.

Simay

It combines sīm, silver, and ay, moon, and two most quoted meanings are “silver moon” or “glitter moon”.

Yağmur

Yağmur is composed of the Old Turkic verb yağ- (“to rain”) and the suffix ”-mur.” It is pronounced “yaa-moor.”

Serpil

A command name: ”grow and spread”, from serpilmek.

Yeliz

“Luminous”.

Selma

Peaceful in Arabic and ‘God’s helmet’ in German, where it is short form for Anselma.

Nalan

”She who laments.”

Sude

“Pure water”.

İlknur

It is made of ilk and nur: ‘first light’.

Mine

Enamel, from mīnā.

Pınar

‘Fountain’ or ‘spring.’ Pınar Et is one of Turkey’s biggest household food brands.

Damla

Damla means drop and is from damlamak, ‘to drip’.

Ceren

Ceren has roots in the word ”ceylan” (gazelle or deer).

Lale

Lale is symbolizing ‘tulip’ flowers that are originally from Central Asia. If you didn’t know the first Tulip Fanatics were in the Ottoman Empire. They started cultivating tulips by the 16th century. Ottoman historians call 1718 to 1730 the Lâle Devri, the Tulip Period.

Nazlı

Nazlı (”the one who is delicate and coy”) is from the Persian ”naz” (“coy”) and the Turkish “lı” (”to have”).

Ipek

”Silk.” The Silk Road is İpek Yolu in Turkish.

Berrak

It is from the Arabic barrāq that is meaning ”pure.” Actress Berrak Tüzünataç bears this name.

Irmak

“River,” and the longest one inside Turkey is Kızılırmak. Greeks know it as Halys.

Sena

Its etymology is sanāʾ, ‘brightness’ and “praise”, and it is a variant of Sana.

Melis

Melis has origins in the word meli (”bee”).

Duru

Duru (clear or pure) is also found in Persian.

Turkish Muslim Girl Names:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Sidre	the lote tree	SID-reh
Muazzez	”esteemed”	moo-AHZ-zez
Ümmügülsüm	mother of Kulthum	oom-moo-gool-SOOM
Tesnim	water from above	tes-NEEM
Saliha	”righteous”	SAH-lee-hah or sah-lee-HAH
Huriye	houri, or maiden	HOO-ree-yeh
Zahide	she wants little	zah-HEE-deh
Cemile	beautiful in Arabic	jeh-mee-LEH
Selsebil	fountain of paradise	sel-seh-BEEL
Halime	”gentle”	HAH-lee-meh
Münevver	illuminated	mew-nev-VER
Betül	the chaste one	beh-TEWL
Firdevs	”highest paradise.”	feer-DEVS
Sakine	calm or stillness	SAH-kee-neh or sah-kee-NEH
Hanife	”upright believer”	HAH-nee-feh

The list continues below.

Ela

It (“hazel”) is also spelled Elâ. In Aramaic Ela means “oak.”

Beste

Comes from Persian beste, which is a composed song in Ottoman classical music.

Gökçe

Gökçe is made of the elements “gök” (“blue”) and the suffix “çe.”

Işıl

”Brilliant” or ”shining.”

Naz

“Coquettish.”

Ceylan

“Gazelle.”

Eylül

Eylül is meaning the month ‘September.’ It reached Turkish through Arabic and Aramaic from the Babylonian Ulūlu.

Ilkay

It is pronounced as eel-KYE, means ‘first moon’ and is also spelled without the dot. Save

Aysun

A blessing: “may she be like the moon,” with -sun as suffix for “let her be.”

Defne

“Laurel leaf.” It’s the Turkish form of Daphne who is the nymph that became the laurel tree to escape Apollo.

Açelya

Azalea. Nectar from the yellow azalea gives Black Sea “mad honey” its dizzying kick.

Zümra

The Quran calls Surah 39 by its plural, az-Zumar, “the groups”. Zümra comes from zumra (زمرة), a crowd or company of people. TÜİK put it fourth for all baby girls born in Turkey during 2023.

Turkish Girl Names With Dark Meanings:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Hicran	pain of separation	heej-RAHN
Gece	night	geh-JEH
Börte	root disputed	bur-TEH
Fırtına	storm	fuhr-tuh-NAH
Gurbet	life far from home	goor-BET
Esmer	dark-skinned	es-MER
Hüzün	”melancholy.”	hue-ZUEN
Ateş	fire	ah-TESH
Gölge	shadow	GUHL-geh
Figen	a cry of grief	fee-GEN
Ayaz	frost on a clear night	ah-YAHZ
Duman	smoke	doo-MAHN
Hasret	”yearning”	hahs-RET
Alev	flame	ah-LEV
Yalaz	blaze	yah-LAHZ

Even more below.

Şirin

“Pretty” or ”sweet.”

Bahar

Bahar is from the Middle Persian wahār that means ”spring.”

Ebru

“Paper marbling”.

Selin

Selin (“flowing water”) is the name of biologist Selin Balci. Save

Nehir

Nehir has roots in the Arabic word “nehr” (river) and Nehi is a diminutive that I like. “For them are gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever.” (Qur’an 9:89).

Mavi

I like names a toddler can point at, and mavi is the Turkish word for blue. Gulet cruises on Aegean are sold as Mavi Yolculuk, the Blue Voyage.

Dicle

Dicle is the Tigris. This is the river that is 1,750 km (1,090 mi) long.

Rümeysa

Rümeysa comes from Rumaysa bint Milhan. She is one of the women companions of the Prophet.

Sibel

A form of Cybele, the mother goddess the Phrygians worshipped in Anatolia.

Tansu

Tansu combines tan (dawn) and su (water).

Azra

‘Maiden,’ and al-ʿAdhrāʾ, the Virgin, is a title of Maryam in Muslim tradition.

Asli

Asli is from the Arabic root word asl and means genuine. It is mentioned (as a nickname) in the tale “Kerem ile Aslı”..

Elvan

Elvan is derived from alwān, “colours” and comes from lawn, meaning a single colour.

Esma

”Exalted” or ”high status.”

Serap

A mirage, from sarāb.

Nisa

”Women,” and the 4th surah of the Quran.

Sare

Sare – ‘Princess.’ “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.” (Genesis 17:15, KJV)

Kader

Fate.

Tuana

Origins in tuwānā, ‘the first raindrop that falls in paradise.’

Reyhan

From rayḥān (ريحان), ‘sweet basil’.

Sedef

”Mother-of-pearl.” Sedef Island is one of the smallest of Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands.

Sevgi

Love, from the verb sevmek.

Alara

A river near Alanya and a Seljuk castle in close proximity.

Zühre

Planet Venus. She’s the girl in Tahir ile Zühre and the king forbids her to marry with Tahir.

Lidya

Lidya is Lydia, the kingdom of western Anatolia.

Sevim

sevinmek, to be glad.

Asuman

sky/heaven. vault/firmament

Gonca

Symbolizing an unopened rose, Gonca comes from ghonche, ‘bud’.

READ MORE: 45 Unique Girl Names That Mean Fire

Feray

‘Moon’s radiance.’

Cansu

Cansu is made of the words ”can” (spirit or life) and ”su” (”water”).

Kübra

Roots in kubrā (كبرى), what is the feminine of akbar. It has the meanings “greatest” and ‘grandest’.

Beyza

Beyza (bay-ZAH) – Means “white” and ‘bright’, feminine of abyaḍ.

Meltem

“Sea breeze.” Meteorologists use the word for the dry north wind that crosses the Aegean.

Aysu

”Moon water.”

Sahra

Desert. That’s where the Sahara comes from, the plural ṣaḥārā, which is ‘deserts’.

Zarife

“graceful”/“elegant”/“witty”/“refined”

Buse

Buse is the Persian word ‘būse’ that is symbolizing ”a kiss.”

Ezgi

“Melody,” ‘tune’ and air (the musical sense, as in Bach’s Air on the G String).

Nur

Nur comes from Arabic and has a meaning that I love, “radiance.” Surah An-Nur: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.”

Aydan

”From the moon”. Ay takes the suffix -dan.

Hazal

Hazal (gazelle) has origins in the Kurdish (Xezal). Hazal Kaya is one of Turkey’s highest-paid actresses.

Aysima

It is a combination of ‘Ay’ (moon) and ‘Sima’ (”countenance”). So one meaning of Aysima that I find intriguing is “she who has a face as beautiful as the moon.”

Elmas

”Diamond.”

Bade

Bade has roots in the Persian bâde (”wine”).

Zeynep

Turkish form of Zaynab, which comes from Arabic and is given as “father’s precious jewel.” It topped TÜİK’s list for baby girls in 2022, with eight thousand eight hundred seventy-six of them.

Merve

Meaning ‘flint,’ Merve has roots in marwa, a white stone.

Zehra

”Radiant” or ”flower.” Az-Zahra was an epithet of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad.

Ecrin

Plural of the Arabic ecir, rewards or recompense.

Turkish Persian girl names:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Dilruba	Heart-stealer	dil-roo-BAH
Dilşad	Joyful heart	dil-SHAHD
Nigar	Beloved	nee-GAHR
Mehveş	Moon-like	meh-VESH
Mahperi	Moon fairy	mah-peh-REE
Rana	Graceful	rah-NAH
Ruhsar	Cheek, face	rooh-SAHR
Şehnaz	Pride of the king	sheh-NAHZ
Ferda	Tomorrow	fer-DAH
Şeyda	Lovesick	shay-DAH
Sanem	Idol	sah-NEM
Yegane	Unique	yeh-gah-NEH
Simin	Silvery	see-MEEN
Sitare	Star	see-tah-REH
Nihan	Secret	nee-HAHN

Scroll down for more.

Öykü

”Story.” The word was manufactured during the 1930s language reform as a native replacement for the Arabic hikaye.

Bilge

Bilge (”wise”) Kağan ruled the Second Turkic Khaganate in the 8th century.

Umay

Umay was the goddess who guarded mothers and newborns. It is symbolizing ”placenta” or “mother goddess.”

Lâmia

”Shining.”

Pembe

Pink.

Esila

Esila is ”noble and genuine.”

Dilay

Dil (heart) and ay (moon).

Ümit

Turks call Cape of Good Hope Ümit Burnu and means “hope.”

Nazife

‘Clean’ and pure, from nazīf (نظيف).

Ayşe

Comes from Arabic Aisha, she who lives. Ayşecik is the affectionate variation and it was also the screen persona that made Zeynep Değirmencioğlu the most famous child actor in Turkish cinema.

Hatice

Turkish form of Khadija which comes from Arabic khadaja ‘to be born early’ so the meaning is “premature child.”

Emine

”Trustworthy” or ”safe” and is the feminine variant of Emin.

Gül

”Rose” and has roots in Persian. Isparta province supplies 60% of the world’s rose oil. It seeds many names including Gülay, Gülşen, Gülnur, Nurgül.

Vuslat

Reunion with the beloved, and Sufi poets used it for union with God.

Esin

According to the Turkish Language Association, esin is ‘inspiration’ and a morning breeze and it comes from esmek to blow.

Aynur

Aynur is made of ay (moon) and nur (light).

Nergis

”Daffodil”. It comes from the Greek narkissos via Persian nargis.

Menekşe

”Violet” and is from the Persian banafşa. Turkish also uses menekşe as a colour word in a similar fashion to how English uses violet for the plant and the shade.

Şahika

Summit.

Cansel

Cansel combines can (life) with sel (flood).

Nermin

It comes from Persian narm: “soft,” “delicate.”

Yüsra

Yüsra is ease, from the verse ”with hardship comes ease” in Surah Ash-Sharh.

Dünya

It means ‘world’ and is from dunyā, ‘the nearest,’ as opposite to ahiret, the life after.

Leman

Flash of light.

Hale

Halo.

Bergüzar

Something left to remember a person by.

Tülay

”Moon halo.”

Medine

Medina, which is the city of the Prophet.

Destan

Epic poem.

Çiçek

”Blossom” or ”flower.” Istanbul’s Çiçek Pasajı opened in 1876 as the Cité de Péra.

Yaprak

“Leaf.” That’s the first word of Yaprak Dökümü, that is a novel by Reşat Nuri Güntekin about Ali Rıza Bey’s family.

Suna

Suna is a duck.

Rüya

Rüya has origins in Arabic ru’ya, ”vision” or ”dream.”

Dilara

Dilara is composed of dil (”heart”) and ara (”adorning”).

Gamze

”Dimple” and is pronounced GAHM-zeh.

Türkan

”Turkish lady” or ” queen.” Türkan Şoray has appeared in more than 222 films. She earned the Golden Orange for Best Actress four times.

Filiz

”Bud” or ”sprout.”

Yıldız

It is the star next to the crescent on the Turkish flag. Yıldız Palace is where Abdülhamid II led the Ottoman state.

Şule

Şule is a flame and comes from the Arabic shu’la.

Nihal

”Young plant.”

Sıla

Soldiers and migrant workers say sıla izni for home leave.

Cemre

“Spark of warmth” or ”ember.”

Nilüfer

It is the word for the water lily, from Persian nīlūfar. Nilüfer Hatun was the wife of Orhan Gazi and mother of Murad I.

Bengü

Bengü is the Old Turkic word for ”eternal”.

Beril

”Beryl” via Greek bēryllos. Emerald and aquamarine are both beryl.

Yaren

Friend or companion.

Doğa

Nature.

Rengin

”Colorful.”

Özlem

Origins in özlemek (to miss or to long for).

Hatun

Hatun was the title of a khan’s wife.

Hürrem

”Joyful”, from Persian khurram. Suleiman the Magnificent married Hürrem Sultan in a formal ceremony.

Kösem

“Leader of the herd” or ”bellwether.”

Asena

She-wolf of the Göktürk origin myth.

Mihrimah

Mihr (sun) and māh (moon). Mimar Sinan was commissioned to design two mosques.

Tomris

Tomris has origins in Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae. Herodotus writes that her army killed Cyrus the Great.

Semra

“Dark-skinned beauty.”

Aybike

Ay (moon) and bike, an Old Turkic title for a lady.

Yasemin

Jasmine. It reached Ottoman speech from yāsaman.

Canan

Canan is meaning ”beloved”. It comes from jān, life.

Peri

”Fairy,” from the Persian pari.

Raziye

”Content.”

Ezel

”Time without beginning”.

Halide

Halide (”everlasting”) Edib spoke at the 1919 Sultanahmet rally against the occupation of Izmir.

Sabiha

Lovely” and has the same root with ṣabāḥ, morning.

Sevda

”Passion” or ”deep love.”

Hande

”Smile.” Hande has its form from khanda.

Sevil

Sevil is a command: ”be loved.” It comes from the verb sevilmek. I like that it doubles as a wish for a newborn.

Deniz

Karadeniz and Akdeniz, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, both have Deniz, sea.

Füsun

”Charm” or ”enchantment” from fusūn. Orhan Pamuk opened The Museum of Innocence in Çukurcuma, Istanbul.

Şebnem

Şebnem is made from shab (”night”) and nam (”moisture”).

Leyla

From layl, night. Soprano Leyla Gencer sang Madame Lidoine at the world premiere of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.

Feride

Feride has roots in farīda, a pearl.

Tuğçe

Tuğ, the horsetail standard of steppe armies and suffix -çe. It is pronounced TOO-cheh.

Nisan

”April.”

Melike

Queen. Melike is the feminine variant of melik, king.

Didem

My eye, from dīde.

Başak

Başak is an ear of wheat. Horoscope pages in Turkey put Virgo as Başak.

Hilal

”Crescent moon.”

Tuba

Tuba is the tree of paradise in Islamic tradition. It appears in Quran 13:29, ”Tūbā lahum”, blessedness is theirs.

Özge

”Other” or ”different”.

Hacer

Hacer is from Hagar, mother of Ishmael. Pilgrims in Mecca walk seven times between Safa and Marwa to repeat her search for water.

Ülker

Pleiades, the cluster in Taurus.

Nesrin

”Wild white rose,” from Persian nasrin.

Nevin

“Freshness” or ”newness.”

Rabia

It is Arabic for ”fourth”. Rabia al-Adawiyya of Basra taught disciples that God is unconditionally loved.

Meryem

Meryem is Maryam, mother of Jesus Christ.

Pelin

Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium.

Büşra

”Good news,” from bushrā.

Eda

From adāʾ, a charming manner.

Ruken

”Smiling face” in Kurdish.

Hüma

Hüma is a bird of Persian legend whose shadow can make a man king.

Zerrin

Golden, from zarrīn.

Oya

Oya is a needle lace that is used on headdresses and scarves.

Güneş

Sun.

Seher

Hour before dawn, from saḥar.

Sinem

”My heart.”

Kiraz

”Cherry.”

Mercan

Coral. Fishmongers sell mercan as well, the red porgy caught from the Aegean coast.

İnci

Pearl.

Aliye

Fatma Aliye (”exalted”) published Muhadarat the first novel by an Ottoman woman.

Arzu

Desire and is from ārzū.

Berfin

Snowdrop in Kurdish, from berf, snow.

Dilek

A wish. Offices put up a dilek kutusu, a suggestion box.

Hülya

”Daydream.” Hülya Koçyiğit starred in Susuz Yaz, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin

Ece

Queen, from Old Turkic eçe.

Burcu

Pleasant scent.

Esen

”Healthy and blowing like a breeze.”

Yonca

Clover. Farmers sow yonca as fodder for cattle.

Aysel

Ay, moon, and sel, flood.

Meral

”Doe.” Screenwriter Meral Okay created the series Muhteşem Yüzyıl.

Kumru

Collared dove.

Mehtap

Moonlight, from māhtāb. Ottoman Istanbul held mehtap outings, boat parties on the Bosphorus under a full moon.

Yeşim

Jade, from yashm.

Çağla

Green almond, sold unripe and eaten with salt in spring.

Ahu

Gazelle, from āhū. Divan poets write dark eyes as ahu gözlü.

Pervin

The Pleiades, from parvīn.

Yade

Remembrance, from yād.

Ayten

Ay, moon, and ten, skin. Singer Ayten Alpman made “Memleketim” a stadium anthem.

Belgin

Distinct, clear-cut, from belgi, sign.

Bihter

Better, finer, from behter. Bihter is the heroine of Aşk-ı Memnu, a novel by Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil.

Jale

Dew, from jāle. Jale İnan was the first female archaeologist who led the digs at Perge.

Çise

Drizzle.

Şeyma

“The one with a beauty mark.” Al-Shaymāʾ was the foster sister of Muhammad.

Ayça

Ay takes the suffix -ça, and is “little moon.”

Firuze

Turquoise, from fīrūze.

Selvi

Cypress.

Fulya

Jonquil. Fulya is a neighbourhood in Istanbul’s Şişli district.

Hazan

Autumn, from khazān.

Revan

Flowing, from ravān. Topkapı Palace’s Revan Pavilion commemorates the victories of Murad IV’s Baghdad.

Mısra

”A line of poetry.”

Sema

”Sky,” and a whirling ceremony of the Mevlevi dervishes. It was listed by UNESCO.

Rezzan

”Dignified.”

Şükran

Gratitude.

Karya

Caria, a region around Bodrum.

Ceyda

”Long-necked,” a compliment for an elegant woman.

Buket

Bouquet, a French loan. Ankara-born novelist Buket Uzuner collected Yunus Nadi Novel Prize for Balık İzlerinin Sesi (The Sound of Fishsteps).

Şermin

In Persian (شرمین) it means “bashful.”

Lal

“Ruby” in Persian (لعل).

Necla

”One with wide eyes.”

Sultan

Sultan is a title that Turkish families give to girls as a first name.

Kumsal

Kum, sand, and sal, flat ground.

Elçin

Origins in elçi, ‘envoy’ or messenger.

Eslem

Eslem means submission and is from Arabic aslama, to submit.

Kardelen

Kardelen is the snowdrop, literally ”snow piercer”.

Ümran

prosperity, from Arabic عمران

İlay

İlay is ”like the moon.”

Seda

Voice or an echo.

İlay

İlay is ”like the moon.”

Asya

Asia.

Ada

‘Island’ in Turkish and adornment in Hebrew.

İda

Mount Ida is where Paris judged the three goddesses in Greek myth.

Zekiye

Clever, pure. Abdülhamid II arranged the trousseau of his daughter Zekiye Sultan (1872-1950).

Hayal

Imagination or a dream seen awake.

Sevinç

Joy.

Mihriban

Abdurrahim Karakoç wrote the poem Mihriban, ‘compassionate’ in Persian.

Neslihan

Nesl (lineage) with han (ruler), for a girl of noble line.

Su

”Water.”

Serra

Sarrāʾ in Arabic is ease and prosperity. It is in Quran 3:134 next to ḍarrāʾ, hardship.

Güler

Güler is ”she who smiles.”

Azade

Ottoman Turkish used azat, to free a slave.

Öznur

Öz (pure) with nur (light).

Hira

Hira is the cave near Mecca where the first verses of the Quran were revealed.

Cennet

Paradise, and in Arabic janna is first of all a garden.

Necmiye

From necm (نجم), star. Surah 53 of the Quran, An-Najm, was named after it.

Tülin

“mirror.” Its other meaning (a halo around the moon) matches Ayla.

Zuhal

Arabic and Persian for Saturn (زحل).

Masal

“Fairy tale.” Arabic mathal, proverb, reached Ottoman Turkish as mesel, and masal is a second pronunciation of that word.