Until October 2013, it was legally impossible to give certain Kurdish names in Turkey. Not because the names themselves were banned, but because the letters Q, W and X, which are essential for writing them, did not exist in the official alphabet. This history explains a large part of the Kurdish name repertoire today. Here are 40 names and what they carry.
Three banned letters for ninety years
In 1928, Atatürk's reform replaced the Arabic script with a Latin alphabet adapted to Turkish. That alphabet has no Q, no W and no X. Yet these three letters are essential for writing Kurdish.
The consequences were concrete and lasting:
- A name like Xwezî or Welat could not be registered with the Turkish civil registry.
- Kurdish city names were Turkified, for the same spelling reason.
- Using these letters could be punished, including with criminal penalties.
The ban was only lifted in autumn 2013. That is why many Kurds in Turkey officially carry a Turkish name and use a Kurdish name within their family: exactly the same double naming as the Romani or the Catalans under Franco, for different reasons but with the same result.
A language related to Persian
Kurdish is an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch, related to Persian and unrelated to Turkish or Arabic. You can hear it immediately in the names, which share roots with Persian.
| Kurdish root | Meaning | Names |
|---|---|---|
| roj | The sun, the day | Rojîn, Rojda, Rojhat |
| dil | The heart | Dilan, Dilbar, Dilşad |
| gul | The rose, the flower | Gulan, Gulistan |
| evîn | Love | Evîn |
| azad | Free | Azad |
| ronahî | Light | Ronahî |
| hêvî | Hope | Hêvî |
| welat | The country, the homeland | Welat |
| baran | Rain | Baran |
| zana | The wise man, the scholar | Zana |
Kawa the blacksmith and the Kurdish New Year
One name deserves a place of its own: Kawa.
According to legend, Kawa was a blacksmith whose children had been handed over to a tyrannical king. He rose up, killed the tyrant and lit a fire on the mountain to announce liberation. That fire is the one still lit every March 21 for Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, celebrated by millions of people.
A delightful detail for anyone interested in languages: he is the same character as Kaveh in the Persian Book of Kings. Two neighboring peoples, one figure, two spellings.
Nature names
This is the largest family, and the gentlest. Kurdish names draw heavily on the mountain landscape of Kurdistan.
- Berivan: she who milks the ewes, an image of pastoral life, a very common girl's name.
- Zozan: the high-altitude summer pastures where the herds go up.
- Helîn: the nest.
- Gulistan: the rose garden.
- Sipan: from the name of a volcano near Lake Van.
- Zilan: the name of a valley.
- Baran: rain, unisex, one of the most popular today.
- Rojîn: daylight.
Names that make a statement
The second family is more recent, born of the political context of the 20th century. These are names with a program, and their rise dates from the decades when the language was repressed.
- Azad: free.
- Welat: the country.
- Hêvî: hope.
- Nûjîn: new life.
- Şoreş: revolution.
- Berxwedan: resistance.
- Serhat: the frontier, the horizon.
These names are not neutral, and the families concerned know it. Giving them was in itself a stand at a time when they could not be registered.
40 Kurdish names
For a boy
Azad, Kawa, Baran, Serhat, Rojhat, Welat, Zana, Dilan, Şiyar, Rodi, Egid, Ferhat, Aram, Sipan, Şoreş, Berxwedan, Rêber, Diyar, Zagros, Bawer.
For a girl
Rojîn, Berivan, Evîn, Gulan, Helîn, Zilan, Rojda, Nûjîn, Zozan, Gulistan, Ronahî, Delal, Şirîn, Beritan, Sozdar, Hêlîn, Perî, Newroz, Dilbar, Şilan.
The ones that wear best in France
- Baran: five letters, unisex, no pronunciation difficulty.
- Azad: short, resonant, and "free" says it all in one word.
- Dilan: very close to the Dylan already familiar in France.
- Aram: simple, also used by Armenians.
- Evîn: gentle, as long as you accept losing the circumflex.
Keep in mind: names containing Ş and Ê, such as Şoreş or Hêvî, whose diacritics are not accepted by the French civil registry, and Berxwedan, magnificent but very heavy to carry day to day.
Since Kurdish is an Iranian language, it shares a lot with Persian: see our Persian names, where you will find the same blacksmith under the name Kaveh. For the Turkish context mentioned above, see our selection of Turkish boy names.
Frequently asked questions
Why were Kurdish names banned in Turkey?
Not by name, but in practice: the Turkish alphabet adopted in 1928 has no Q, W or X, three letters essential for writing Kurdish. A name containing any of them therefore could not be registered. The ban on these letters was only lifted in October 2013.
Is Kurdish close to Turkish or Arabic?
Neither. It is an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch, related to Persian. Many name roots are shared with Persian, such as baran, rain, or gul, flower.
What does the name Kawa mean?
It is the name of the legendary blacksmith who overthrew a tyrant and lit a fire to announce liberation. That fire is the one of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year on March 21. He is the same figure as the Kaveh of the Persian epic.
Which Kurdish name should you choose in France?
Baran, Azad, Dilan, Aram and Evîn are the easiest to carry: short, with no difficult consonants, and no diacritics that can't be registered.
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