•
Adana: from the
Hittite URU
Adaniya of
Kizzuwatna, alternatives: related to the legendary character
Danaus, Greek tribe
Danaoi, Egyptian enemy country
Danaja,
Mycenaean refugees
Dananayim or
Danuna, and
Da-na-vo (people living by the river),
Scythian nomad people. •
Adıyaman: As the official Ottoman Turkish name Hısn-ı Mansur ("Castle of Mansur", or Kurdish variation Semsûr) was difficult for the locals to pronounce, people were referring the city as adı (its name) yaman (tough) since the early 19th century, u.e. "its name is tough" or "(the place) whose name is tough" in Turkish. •
Afyonkarahisar: from , "poppy, opium",
kara "black",
hisar "fortress"., i.e.
The black castle of the Opium city in Turkish (The area around has a long tradition of growing opium for the drug industry and was subject of much controversy when under US pressure Turkey forbade opium growing for a period in the seventies). •
Ağrı: From Ağrı (Ararat) Dağı (mountain). The town center was known earlier as Karaköse (
kara black,
köse beardless and mustacheless, i.e.
The guy with dark complexion lacking facial hair in Turkish) formalized from KaraKise, short for Kara Kilise (Black Church) referencing a medieval Armenian church at
Alashkert (Armenian: Ալաշկերտ Alaškert) some 34 km west. •
Aksaray: From Ak (white) Saray (serail/palace), i.e.
The white palace. •
Akyaka, Muğla: From Ak (white) Yaka (side/coast), i.e.
The white shore. •
Alanya: The
Seljuks renamed the city
Alaiye (علائیه), a derivative of the
Sultan Alaeddin Kayqubad I's name, from earlier versions (in
Latin as
Coracesium or in
Greek as
Korakesion from the
Luwian Korakassa meaning "point/protruding city", The
Roman Catholic Church still recognizes the Latin name as a
titular see in its hierarchy. Under the
Byzantine Empire it became known as
Kalonoros or
Kalon Oros, meaning "beautiful/fine mountain" in
Greek, In Italian
Candelore or
Cardelloro.). In his 1935 visit,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk finalized the name in the
new alphabet as
Alanya, changing the 'i' and 'e' in Alaiye, reportedly because of a misspelled
telegram in 1933. •
Aliağa: after a member of the influential
Karaosmanoğulları ayan family, Karaosmanoğlu Ali Ağa, who owned an estate here. •
Amasya: From the
Greek name Ἀμάσεια comes from Amasis, the queen of the
Amazons, who were said to have lived here. The name has changed little throughout history: Ἀμάσεια,
Amaseia,
Amassia and
Amasia are all found on ancient Greek and Roman coinage and continue to be used in modern Greek. ,
Ottoman Turkish أماصيا, and modern Turkish
Amasya all represent the same pronunciation. •
Anamur: from the
Ancient Greek "Anemourion" (),
Latinized as "Anemurium", meaning "
windmill". •
Ankara: From the original
Ánkyra (, "
anchor") in
Greek and
Ancyra in
Latin,
Angora in many European languages and
Engürü in
Ottoman Turkish. •
Antakya: From ,
Anṭākyā, previously أنطاكيّة,
Anṭākīyyah from ,
Anṭiokia; ,
Antiókheia •
Antalya: The city was founded as "Attaleia" (), named after its founder
Attalos II, king of
Pergamon. This name, still in use in Greek, was later evolved in Turkish as Adalia and then Antalya. •
Ardahan: from , ''Art'aani
; , Ardahan''. •
Artvin: from , ;
Laz: ართვინი
Artvini, Armenian: Արդվին
Ardvin •
Aydın: from
EYE-din; (meaning enlightened); formerly named
Güzelhisar. Ancient Greek name is
Tralles. •
Ayvalık: from Ayva (quince) and lık (suffix along with lik, luk, and lük to mean purposed for') i.e.
quince orchard in Turkish. Ancient Greek name is
Kydonies (Κυδωνίες). The new name is Hellenized to
Aivali (Αϊβαλί). •
Balıkesir: from Türkmen
Balak Hisar because of the remains of castle, as Hisar is the Turkish word for castle. The castle was Byzantine small town which had become increasingly neglected, known as
Palaeokastron (Greek: Παλαιόκαστρο) meaning Old Castle. The original castle was emperor built for
Hadrian in A.D. 124, as a result of a successful bear hunting. Pre-Byzantine dynasty had used this castle as a vacation area and for hunting. •
Bartın: From the antique
Parthenios city (
Παρθένιος in
Greek) which dates back to 1200 BC, when its area was inhabited by the
Kaskian tribe. •
Batman: origin of the name "Batman" for the river and the oil city is unclear: it might be a shortening of the name of the tall Bati Raman mountain located nearby or refer to the
unit of weight used in the
Ottoman Empire. •
Bingöl: Its old name is Çapakçur. This name was given by
Alexander the Great. (,,) •
Bitlis: From '
; ; '; ;
Balales •
Bodrum: In
classical antiquity Bodrum was known as
Halicarnassus (
ancient Greek: Ἁλικαρνασσός, ), a major city in ancient
Caria. The modern name
Bodrum derives from the town's
medieval name
Petronium, which has its roots in the
Hospitaller Castle of St. Peter (see
history). •
Bolu: From
Boli, Turkicized short for the Greek
Polis 'city'. •
Burdur: From the
Byzantine era, city bearing the name Polydorion (). •
Burhaniye: renamed Burhaniye after the Ottoman Prince Şehzade Burhanettin. previously called Taylıeli ('Town of Taylı') village, named after one of the Turkish
beys who came to the aid of
Seljuk ruler Süleyman. At the beginning of the 14th century it came under the domain of the
Karasids and grew as it attracted migrants. In
Ottoman times, it was also known as Kemer and attached to Edremit until 1866. •
Bursa: After
Prusias I, the King of
Bithynia who in 202 BC. was granted the Greek city of
Cius, which rebuilt the city and renamed it
Prusa (; sometimes rendered as
Prussa) •
Çanakkale: From
Çanakkale ceramics, compared by one traveler to
Delftware, and an
Ottoman fortress called
Kale-i Sultaniye () or
Sultaniye kalesi (Fortress of the Sultan). As of 1920, the
British began to call Çanakkale,
Chanak and
Kale Sultanie in their reporting. The place was earlier known by the straits Greek name Δαρδανέλλια,
Dardanellia, •
Çankırı: From its name in antiquity
Gangra. The city has also been known as
Changra,
Kandari or
Kanghari. •
Çeşme: From "Çeşme" meaning "spring, fountain" in Persian (چشمه), and the first settlement 2 km south of the present-day center
Çeşmeköy ('town with fountain' in Turkish) founded by
Tzachas. •
Çorum: ; from
Karum Akkadian:
kārum "quay, port, commercial district", plural
kārū, from
Sumerian kar "fortification (of a harbor), break-water" ancient
Assyrian trade posts in
Anatolia (modern
Turkey) from the 20th to 18th centuries BC. •
Datça: from
Stadia, a name of the city of
Cnidus.
Stadia developed into
Tadya,
Dadya,
Dadça, and then
Datça. •
Denizli: In the 17th century, the Turkish traveler
Evliya Çelebi visited Denizli and recorded the town as follows: "The city is called by Turks as (Denizli) (which means has abundant of water sources like sea in Turkish) as there are several rivers and lakes around it. In fact it is a four-day trip from the sea." •
Dikili: origin of the name (means
upright in Turkish) is unclear, might mean an obelisk, a single stone column, or a not-fallen dead tree. Ancient
Pitane and as yet unexplored site of
Atarneus are located nearby. •
Diyarbakır: from diyar (land of) and bakr (unclear which of these is the origin: tribe name
bakr, or Kurdish for north
bakur, or Turkish for cupper
bakır) The city is called , , , , ) •
Doğubeyazıt: from Doğu (east) and Beyazit after the Turkish warlord
Celayırlı Şehzade Bayazıt Han who ordered one of the rebuildings (in 1374) even though the old castle with
Armenian name
Daruynk. was repaired many times throughout history. Ultimately, the town was renamed Beyazit itself in the 16th century and later in the 1930s a new town was built in the plain below the old site, hence the new name "Doğubayazıt", which literally means "East Beyazıt". •
Düzce: From Düzce Pazar (Flattish Bazaar or market on flat ground) a marketplace on the plain 8 km from the historical Konuralp, the seat of the Turkish conqueror of the area on behalf of Osman I at 13th century. •
Edirne: From
Adrianople (
Hadrianopolis in Latin or
Adrianoupolis in Greek, founded by the
Roman emperor
Hadrian on the site of a previous
Thracian settlement named
Uskudama), •
Edremit, Balıkesir: From the original in Greek
Adramyttion () or Adramytteion (Άδραμύττειον) •
Enez: From the original in Greek
Ainos (),
Latinized as
Aenus. •
Erbaa: From "Erbaa" means "four" in Arabic. Erek (
Niksar and
Amasya), Karayaka, Sonusa (Uluköy), and Taşâbat (Taşova) were collectively named as Nevah-i Erbaa, "four towns" in Arabic as they were in the same region and close to one another. •
Erdek: formerly
Artàke, •
Erzincan:
Acilisene, the ancient city that is now Erzincan, was the site of the
Peace of Acilisene by which in AD 387
Armenia was divided into two vassal states, a smaller one dependent on the
Byzantine Empire and a larger one dependent on
Persia. This is the name (Ἀκιλισηνή in
Greek) by which it is called by
Strabo in his
Geography, 11.4.14. The etymological origin of the word is disputed, but it is agreed that the city was once called Erez. For a while it was called Justinianopolis in honour of
Emperor Justinian. In more recent
Greek it has been called as Κελτζηνή (
Keltzene) and Κελεζηνή (
Kelezene) In the Armenian language, the 5th-century
Life of Mashtots called it
Yekeghiats In the more recent past, it was known in
Armenian as Երզնկա (
Yerznka) •
Erzurum: A neighboring commercial city named
Artze (Arcn, Arzan; Armenian: Արծն) was heavily sacked by the
Seljuk Turks in 1048–49. Its
Armenian,
Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, which they began calling "Artsn Rum" (meaning Artze of the
Rûm,
i.e.,
Romans) to distinguish it from their former residence. •
Eskişehir: The name Eskişehir literally means "Old City" in
Turkish; indeed, the city was founded by the
Phrygians in at least 1000
BC, although it has been estimated to be older than 4000 years old. The city was known as
Dorylaeum (Δορύλαιον) in
Greek under the Roman Christian era. •
Fethiye: In 1934, the city was renamed 'Fethiye' in honor of one of the first pilots of the
Ottoman Air Force, killed in 1914 by
Al-Samra. Modern Fethiye is located on the site of the ancient city of
Telmessos. Over the centuries, it has been called
Telmissos,
Anastasioupolis,
Makre,
Makri (Μάκρη, "long one") and
Beskaza during the Turkish period. •
Gaziantep: formerly called
Antep or
Aīntāb (عين تاب) in
Ottoman Turkish, '
Aīntāb (عينتاب) in
Arabic, there are several theories for the origin of its name: •
Aïntap may be derived from
khantap, meaning "king's land" in the
Hittite language. •
Aïn, an Arabic and
Aramaic word meaning "spring", and
tab as a word of praise. •
Antep could be a corruption of the Arabic '
aīn ṭayyib meaning "good spring". However, the Arabic name for the city is spelled with t (ت), not ṭ (ط). •
Ayin dab or
Ayin debo in Aramaic, meaning "spring of the wolf" • The
Crusaders called the city and its castle "Hantab", "Hamtab", and "Hatab". • Gaziantep is the probable site of the
Hellenistic city of
Antiochia ad Taurum ("Antiochia in the Taurus Mountains"). • In February 1921, the
Turkish parliament honored the city as غازى عينتاب
Ghazi Aīntāb or "Antep the war hero" to commemorate its resistance to the French
Siege of Aintab during the
Franco-Turkish War, part of the
Turkish War of Independence, and that name was officially adopted in 1928 as Gaziantep. •
Gebze: Origin of the name is unclear. Ottoman records contains these variations:
Geybüyze,
Geybüveyze,
Geyibüveyze,
Geyiboyze,
Geykivize. Evliya Celebi in one of his trips called it
Kekbeziye, in another trip he gave the sentence "Gel bize" (
come to us in Turkish) as explanation for the origin. •
Gelibolu: from ,
Kallipolis, "Beautiful City" •
Giresun: formerly Cerasus (Κερασοῦς) in Greek. the etymology might be related to the Greek word κερασός (kerasós) "
cherry" + -ουντ (a place marker). Thus, the Greek root of the word "cherry", κερασός (kerasós), predates the name of the city, The toponym would have later mutated into
Kerasunt (sometimes written
Kérasounde or
Kerassunde), and the word "cherry" (as well as its cognates found in other local languages) was derived from the name of the city itself, rather than the other way around. •
İskenderun: From Alexander the great •
Isparta: from ,
Baris/Βάρις in
Byzantine Greek •
Istanbul: Derived from the
Medieval Greek phrase (pronounced ), which means "to the city", how Constantinople was referred to as the only major city in the vicinity by the local Greeks. •
İzmit: from the
Ancient Greek name of the city,
Nicomedia (). Names used in English prior to official Turkish Latinization include Ismid, Iskimid, and Isnikmid. •
İzmir: from original Greek name "Smyrna" and "Smyrne" (Σμύρνη) •
Kahramanmaraş: •
Kandıra: From
Kéndri or
Kándora. •
Karabük: From Kara (black) and bük (bush) i.e.
black bush in Turkish. Karabük was built in the 1930s as the seat of the iron and steel industry of Turkey. •
Karaman: From
Karaman Bey who was one of the rulers of the
Karamanid dynasty. The former name was
Laranda which in turn comes from the
Luwian language Larawanda, literally "sandy, a sandy place". •
Kars: As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography (
Strabo) as part of
ancient Armenia. For the origin of the name "Kars", some sources claim it to be derived from the
Georgian word კარი (
kari), meaning "the gate" as was the case for other border region strongholds while other sources claim it is from the Armenian word հարս (
hars), meaning "bride", or rather from կառուց բերդ (
kaṛuts berd), "Kaṛuts Fortress". The Turkish etymology offered by M. Fahrettin Kırzıoğlu (that the name came from the "Karsak", a Turkish tribe), has been dismissed as unsustainable by scholars. •
Kastamonu: The city is believed to have been founded in the 18th century BC. The town was known as
Timonion (Τιμόνιον in Greek) during the Roman period. The change of name of the town dates to the 10th century AD.
Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, a
Thracian soldier who became a prominent general and the father of the Byzantine emperor
Isaac I Komnenos, was given lands around Kastamonu by Emperor
Basil II and built a fortress there named
Kastra Komnenon (Κάστρα Κομνηνών). Manuel came to the notice of Basil II because of his defence, in 978, of
Nicaea against the rebel
Bardas Skleros. The name
Kastra Komnenon was shortened to
Kastamone, and later turkified to Kastamoni and Kastamonu. •
Karataş: From Kara (black) and taş (stone) i.e.
black stone in Turkish. •
Kaş: in the 1600s the Lord of Teke observed Kaş and Meis from the top of the hill and said, "If the islet of
Meis Adası is the eye, then this place will be its kaş (
eyebrow in Turkish)." It seems Kaş was founded by the
Lycians, as
Habesos or
Habesa. In the
Hellenistic period and under the
Roman Empire it served as the port of
Phellus. It was called
Andifli under
Arab,
Seljuks, and
Ottomans, and Kaş since the 1600s. •
Kayseri: originally called
Mazaka or
Mazaca by the
Hattians and was known as such to
Strabo, during whose time it was the capital of the Roman province of
Cilicia, known also as
Eusebia at the Argaeus (Εὐσέβεια ἡ πρὸς τῶι Ἀργαίωι in
Greek), after
Ariarathes V Eusebes, King of
Cappadocia (163–130 BC). The name was changed again by
Archelaus (d. 17 AD), last King of Cappadocia (36 BC–14 AD) and a
Roman vassal, to "Caesarea in Cappadocia" (to distinguish it from other cities with the name
Caesarea in the Roman Empire) in honour of
Caesar Augustus, upon his death in 14 AD. When the Muslim Arabs arrived, they adapted the pronunciation to their writing resulting in
Kaisariyah (note that letter
C in classical
Latin was pronounced
K), and this eventually became
Kayseri when the
Seljuk Turks took control of the city in circa 1080, remaining as such ever since. •
Kazlıçeşme, Zeytinburnu: from the historic fountain () with a relief goose () figure below the fountain's inscription, which dates it back to
Hijri year AH 953 (AD 1537). •
Kilis: In the tablets belonging to the
Assyrian period, the name 'Ki-li-zi' is written in cuneiform and a city named as "Ciliza Sive Urnagiganti" during the
Roman Empire period is mentioned. •
Kırklareli: From 'Kırk' (Forty) and 'El' (Area), i.e.
The land of the forties in Turkish. •
Kırşehir: From 'Kır' (grey / steppe ) and 'şehir' (city), i.e.
The grey / steppe city in Turkish. •
Kırıkkale: From 'Kırık' (broken) and 'kale' (castle), i.e.
The broken castle in Turkish. •
Konya: from (
icon), as an
ancient Greek legend ascribed its name to the "
eikon" (image), or the "''
gorgon's (
Medusa's) head''", with which
Perseus vanquished the native population before founding the city. if not hellenised from an earlier Luvian name. •
Kuşadası: From 'Kuş' (bird) and 'ada' (islet), i.e.
The island of birds in Turkish. •
Kütahya: From the original in Greek
Kotyaion,
Latinized in Roman times as
Cotyaeum. •
Malatya: From the Hittite Malidiya (melid or milit which means "honey"). •
Manisa: From
Magnesia () the place where the original magnetic rocks came from. •
Mardin: From a
Syriac/
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic language name translating to "fortress" used as the Roman period name
Marida (
Merida), •
Marmara Ereğlisi: From name given 300 AD as
Heraclea (Ἡράκλεια). •
Marmaris: From the Turkish word , Greek (marble) in reference to the rich deposits of marble in the region. •
Mersin: From Mersin Bey, a leader of the Oghuz Turks, a local clan named Mersinoğulları reported by
Evliya Çelebi •
Milas: From ancient name (, Mylasa) associated with
Lycians •
Muğla: From ancient name Mobolla •
Muş: From Mushki the ancient clan with clover as sign that built the original castle later demolished by
Suleiman the Magnificent •
Nazilli: According to legend, the son of Aydın's governor in the Ottoman period, fell in love with a young woman from Pazarköy but was rejected by the girl's father. The young man later named the town Nazlı Ili (Nazlı's Hometown) after his loved one. •
Nevşehir: From Nev ('new'), and şehir ('city') i.e. 'New town' in Ottoman Turkish') •
Niğde: From
Anahita, Nakita or Nahita an ancient goddess for fertility. Later (), Nakida, Nekide, Nîkde (1400) •
Ordu: From Ordu ('army') the 12,000-strong army gathered at Eskipazar in 1396 by Hacı Emiroğlu Süleyman Bey to conquer Giresun. •
Osmaniye: Related to Osman •
Rize: From the original in Greek ρίζα (riza) or Ριζαίον (Rizaion), meaning "mountain slopes",ρίζα in Greek means root. •
Samsun: From the original in Greek:
Amisos (Αμισός) by a
reinterpretation of
eis Amison (meaning "to Amisos") and (Greek suffix for place names) to
eis Sampsunda (Σαμψούντα) and then Samsun (). •
Şanlıurfa: From prehistoric Ur, ܐܘܪܗܝ
Urhai in
Syriac, Ուռհա
Uṙha in
Armenian, الرها
Ar-Ruhā in
Arabic and Ορρα,
Orrha in
Greek (also Ορροα,
Orrhoa).
Şanlı means "great, glorious, dignified" in Turkish. •
Siirt: From Keert or Kaa'rat ('city' in Chaldean), (
Siʿird,
Sġerd,
siʿreth, , ) •
Sinop: from the original in Greek: Σινώπη, translit. Sinṓpē, historically known as Sinope /sɪˈnoʊpi/, after
Sinope the goddess from Greek mythology. •
Şebinkarahisar: From Turkish: şap (
alum in Turkish), kara (black in Turkish) and hisar (fort in Turkish) as a reference to the Alum factory that made
Germiyanids rich thanks to a monopoly of alum needed to fix colors on fabric. Other names :
Colonia, in Greek
Koloneia (Κολώνεια),
Koğoniya. turkified at the time as
Kuğuniya.,
Mavrokastron (Greek for "Black Fortress"),
Karahisar (Greek: Γαράσαρη, Gareysar by greeks of the 14th century),
Şapkarahisar,
Kara Hisar-ı Şarkî/Şarkî Kara Hisar ("Black Fortress of the East" to differentiate it from
Afyonkarahisar farther to the west), Nikopoli (Greek: Νικόπολη);. It should not be confused with the nearby
Koyulhisar, where the ruins of ancient Roman Nikopoli lie. •
Şırnak: From Kurdish: Şirnex or Şehr-i Nuh (City of Noah) since it was believed locally, near Cudi Mountain, where Noah's Ark finally to have landed after
the Flood. •
Silivri: From the ancient Greek Selymbria or Selybria (Greek: Σηλυ(μ)βρία), after the mythological thracian founder of the city, Selus. •
Sivas: From "Sebaste", which is the feminine form of the Greek name corresponding to Augustus. •
Tarsus, Mersin: from , the original name of the city in the Hittite language, which was possibly derived from a pagan god,
Tarku. •
Tavşanlı: Named 'with rabbits' in Turkish after a hunting party held by the Ottoman prince Bayezid I, in which he is said to have hunted 7 rabbits. •
Tekirdağ: From
tekfur ('Byzantine lord') and dağı ('Mountain belonging to'), i.e. 'Mountain of Byzantine lord' in Turkish. •
Tokat: From Tokat or Toktat ('roofless animal enclosure') in old Turkish. •
Trabzon: From the original in Greek: Τραπεζοῦς (
Trapezous), referencing the table-like central hill between the Zağnos (İskeleboz) and Kuzgun streams on which it was founded (
τράπεζα meant "table" in
Ancient Greek •
Tunceli: The name means the land (eli) of bronze (tunç) in Turkish •
Uşak: From the original in Greek:
Ousakeion (Ουσάκειον) Turkified as
Uşşak; which could mean "lovers" and "
minstrels" simultaneously. •
Van: From
Kingdom of Van (
Urartian: ''
; ), derived from the Urartian toponym Biainili
(or Biaineli
), which was adopted in Old Armenian as Van'' (), because of
betacism in
linguistics. •
Yalıkavak: From Yalı ('beach property'), and Kavak ('birch tree') i.e. 'birch tree at the beach' in Turkish. •
Yalova: From Yalı ('beach property'), and Ova ('low lying farmland') i.e. 'low lying farmland at the beach' in Turkish. •
Yenişehir, Bursa: From Yeni ('new'), and şehir ('city') i.e. 'New town' in Turkish. •
Yomra: From the name of a type of apple grown locally. •
Yozgat: From Yoz ('grassland'), and Kant ('city') i.e. 'city with grassland' in old Turkish. •
Yumurtalık: From Yumurta ('egg'), and lık (suffix along with lik, luk, and lük to mean purposed for') i.e. 'egg nest' in Turkish •
Zonguldak: from
Zone Geul-Dagh, the name given to the area by
French and
Belgian mining companies to refer to the zone near "Geul-Dagh" or Göldağı ('Lake Mountain'), the highest mountain in the vicinity. == Toponymy of Turkish regions ==