TÜRKLERDE AD VERME GELENEĞİ VE SARUHANOĞULLARI BEYLİĞİNDE ADLAR
TRADITION OF NAMING IN TURKS AND THE NAMES IN THE SARUKHANID DYNASTY

Summary/Abstract: The tradition of naming emerged from the need of humans to communicate and identify both living beings and inanimate objects. Personal names, however, do not merely express an individual’s identity; they also encapsulate significant cultural and historical information. The naming tradition among Turks is deeply intertwined with their history, culture, and beliefs. Moreover, the diversity in the origins of names reflects the various cultural phases that Turkish society has undergone. Therefore, analyzing the names used throughout history is essential to better understand the cultural transitions of Turkish society. Naming traditions, which vary by period and reflect the unique characteristics of each era, are shaped by political and social conditions as well as religious beliefs, reflecting the tendencies of people living in a specific period. Thus, examining the names of a society within a historical framework can help uncover its religious and cultural transformations. From this perspective, the topic has been approached by focusing first on the cultural changes in Turkish history as reflected through names and then on understanding the social, cultural, and religious perspectives of 14th-century Anatolia, with particular reference to the Sarukhanid Beylik. During the Beylik period in Anatolia, certain aspects, such as the influence of religious tendencies on society and the process of cultural change, remain insufficiently illuminated due to the scarcity of resources. For this reason, studying the names of the Sarukhanid family, who ruled for a time in Western Anatolia after the Seljuks, as well as the names of their entourage and subjects, will shed light on their general religious inclinations, the potential influence of sects and communities, and the enduring cultural impact of their national identity as reflected in their naming practices.

• Details
• Contents