Turkey: province/city/place names

[RatCat]

I know there are many lists which you can find, but here are the list of the provinces and from which language their name came from. It is a list about NOWADAYS , official names and not how others describe/call them. If you are interested in this theme, you can write your thoughts and add other place names or correct me if i am wrong.

Adana : IE-Anatolian?=?
Adıyaman : Turkish = “the name which is though”
Afyonkarahisar : Turkish = afyon “opium” kara “black/dark” hisar “castle”
Ağrı : Hebrew? = Uratru in Hebrew?
Sanskrit? = Ajonwartah “holy ground”?
Armenian? = ?
Amasya : ? = Greek “Aeseia”—> named after Amazons?
Ankara : Anatolian(Hittite) = Ankuwas
Antalya : Greek = Attaleia, Attalos II. king of Pergamon
Artvin : Georgian?Laz? = Artvini?
Aydın : Turkish = Turkmen dynasty “illuminated/lighed”
Balıkesir : Turkish? = from Bakukiser, hiser “castle”
Bilecik : Greek? = Belikoma?
Bingöl : Turkish = “tousand lakes”
Bitlis : ? = ?
Bolu : Anatolian? Greek? Latin? Turkish? =Bithynia?
Burdur : Greek? = Poldorian?
? = Limnobria?
Bursa : Greek = Prusa/Prursa, King of Bithynia
Çanakkale : Ottoman(Turko?-Persian) = çanak “cup, pottery” kale “castle, forttess”
Çankırı : Greek? Anatolian? = Gangra, Changra, Kandari, Kankari
Çorum : ? = ?
Denizli : Turkish = “from the sea”
Diyarbakır : Arabic = “land of cupper”
Edirne : Greek = Hadtianopolis/Adrianoupoli —> Hadrian
Elazığ: Ottoman = Elaziz, named after Sultan Abdülaziz
Erzincan : Greek? Anatolian? Armenian? = Acilisene
Erzurum : Armenian? = Karin, Artze?
Greek? = Theodosiopolid?
Arabic? = Ard ar-Rum “land of Romans”
Iranic? = ?
? = ?
Eskişehir : Turkopersian = eski “old” şehir “city”
Gaziantep : Arabic + Anatolian? Arabic/Aramaic? = gazi “warrior” antep “spring” +?
Giresun : Greek = kerasos “cherry”
Gümüşhane : (Turko?-) Persian = gümüş “silver” hane “house”
Hakkari : Syriac = farmer
Hatay : Arab? Anatolian? Ottoman? = ?
Isparta : Greek? Latin? Anatolian? = Baris/ Pisidia
Mersin : Anatolian? = Greek: Zephrion
İstanbul : Greek? Turkish?
İzmir : Greek? = Symrne?
Assyrian? = Ti-smurna?
Anatolian? = ?
Kars : Anatolian? = ?
Armenian ? = Karuts/Kaghah?
Kastamonu : Turkish? = ?
Greek ? = Kastta Komneon?
Kayseri : Latin = Caesarea
Kırklareli: Turkish = kırk kilise from Greek Saranta Ekklises “forty churches”
Kırşehir : Turkopersian = kır “steppe” şehir “city”
Kocaeli : Turkish = koca “ big” il “province” or “the province of Koca”?
Konya : Luwian = lkkuwaniya
Kütahya : Greek? = Cotyaeum
Malatya : Anatolian (Hittite) = Milid/Maldi “city of honey”
Manisa : Greek = Magnesia
Anatolian? = ?
Kahramanmaraş : Turkish(Turkopersian?) + Arabic?/Syriac?= kahramam “hero” maraş “?”
Mardin : Semitic = fortress
Muğla : ? = Mobolla/Mogolla?
Muş : Anatolian(Uratrian?) = Menua king of Uratru
Nevşehir: Persian = nev “new” şehir “city”
Niğde : Anatolian (Hittite) = Nahita/ Naxita
Ordu : Turkish = “army”
Rize : Greek? = ?
Sakarya = Anatolian? Greek? Latin? = river, Greek Sangarias, Latin Sangarius
Samsun = Greek? Anatolian? = Amisos
Siirt : Anatolian? =?
Semitic? =?
Sinop : Anatolian? Greek? = Sinope
Sivas : Greek? Latin? = Sebastea?
Tekirdağ : Arab?/Armenian?/Persian?+ Turkish = tekfur “Christian lord/nobles” dağ “mountain”
Tokat : Turkish = “slap in the face”
Trabzon : ? = Greek Trebizous
Tunceli : Turkish = “place of the bronze”
Şanlıurfa : Turkish + Semitic? = şanlı “glorious”
Uşak : Greek? = Ousakeiom
Turkish = “child” “male servant” “crew/team/squad”
Van : Uratrian? = Biana?
Yozgat : Turkish = ?, yüz kat(hundret times) in Central Anatolian Turkish or from Turkish term “gras”
Zonguldak : French-Turkish? = zone geul dagh “lake mountain”
Turkish? = zongalık? zongura?
Anatolian?/Greek? = Sandarac
Turkopersian? = cangal dağ?
Aksaray : Turkopersian = ak “white” saray “palace”
Bayburt : Armenian? = Ambataran/Baydbert
Anatolian? = ?
Karaman : Turkish (Turkopersian?) = Turkmen dynasty
Kırıkkale : Turkopersian = kırık “broken” kale “castle”
Batman : ? = ?
Şırnak : Kurdish? Semitic? = ?
Ottoman = city of Noah “şehri Nuh”
Bartın : Greek? = Parthenion, Parthenia?
Ardahan : ? = ?
İğdır : Turkish = Oghuz tribe
Yalova : (Greek?) + Turkish yalı “house at the coast” ova “plain”
Karabük : Turkish = kara “black/dark” bük “berry”?
Kilis : Assyrian? = ?
Osmaniye : Ottoman? = ?
Düzce : Turkopersian = düz pazar? düz “straight” pazar “bazaar




source: mostly Wikipedia, so it could be there are a lot of nonsense

Trabzon dört köşeli anlamına gelen trapezus kelimesinden köken alır. Trapez kası da aynı zamanda bundan köken alır ve o da dört köşeli kas anlamına gelir. Kökeni yunanca veya latince büyük ihtimal.

[Bender1999]

Adana province

Adana : Anatolian(Hittite?) = Adaniya? Danuna?
Aladağ : Turkish = mountain range
Ceyhan : Turkish? = river
Çukurova : Turkish = çukur “pit” ova “plain”
Feke : Anatolian? Armenian? = Armenian Vahka
İmamoğlu : Turkish = “son of the imam”
Karaisalı : Turkish (+Arabic) = kara “dark, black” İsalı “from İsa/Jesus”
Karataş : Turkish = kara “dark, black” taş “stone”
Kozan : Turkish = Turkish/Turkmen tribe/dynasty
Pozantı : Anatolian? Greek? Latin? Turkish? = Podando, Pendhosos, Arab El Bendedum
Saimbeyli (Arab?+) Turkish = name of a country commissioner
Sarıçam : Turkish = sarı “yellow” çam “fir,pine”
Seyhan : Greek? Anatolian? Turkish? = river, Greek Saros, Latin Sarus
Tufanbeyli : Turkish = an authority during the Greek-Turkish war
Yumurtalık : Turkish = “ egg nest”
Yüreğir : Türkish = Oghuz tribe

[Bender1999]

Adıyaman province

Adıyaman : Turkish = “the name which is though”
Besni : Arabic? Syriac? Armenian? Ottoman? Kurdish? = Arab Bahasna, Syriac: Bet Hesna/Behesna, Armenian: Behesni, Behesdin, Behesna, Ottoman: Behisni, Behesne, Besne, Kurdish: Besni, Arab/Persiam sources : “incomparable” “paradisiac”
Çelihan : ? = ?
Gerger : Semitic? Armenian? Anatolian? = Aramaic : Gargar, Armenian: Karkar
Gölbaşı : Turkish = göl “lake” başı “the head of”
Kahta : Persian?(Kurdish?,Syriac?, Semitic?, Ottoman?) = (Kurdish: Kolik, Syriac: Gakhti, Ottoman: Kölük), Persian? from kahta “mountainside”
Samsat : Greek? Kurdish? Semitic? Armenian? = named after Armenian Orontid ruler Samsis I.
Sincik : Kurdish?, Semitic? Armenian? = Kurdish: Sinciq
Tut : Turkish = dut “mulberty”

[Bender1999]

Afyonkarahisar province

Afyonkarahisar(or just Afyon) : Turkish (+Arabic?) = afyon “opium” kara “black/dark” hisar “castle”
Başmakçı : Turkish = Turkmen tribe
Bayat : Turkish = Oghuz tribe
Bolvadin : Anatolian?, Greek?, Latin? = Greek Polybotum, Latin Polybotus
Çay : Turkish = “tea”
Çobanlar : Turkish(Persian) = “the shepherds”
Dazkırı : Turkish = daz “without plants” kır “steppe”
Dinar : Turkish (of Arab origin?) = Turkmen aristrocrat
Emirdağ : Greek? Arab? Turkish? + Turkish = Greek Amorian, Arab Ammuriya or the named after Seljuk emir Ahmed Mengücek emir “high officer” dağ “mountain”
Evciler : Turkish? = ev “house”?
Hocalar : Turkish(Arab/Persian) = “the hodshas/teachers”
İhsaniye : ? = ?
İscehisar : Turkish? = hisar “castle”
Kızılören : Turkish = kızıl “red” ören “ruins”? or ören “who knits”?
Sandıklı : Turkish (Arab/Persian?) = “those one with the box”
Sinanpaşa : Turkish = named after Akkoyunlu soldier and aristrocrat
Sultandağ : Turkish = sultan + dağ “mountain”
Şuhut : Ottoman? Greek? Anatolian? = Ottoman Şuhud, Greek Synnoda

[Bender1999]

Ağrı province

Ağrı : Hebrew? = Uratru in Hebrew?
Sanskrit? = Ajonwartah “holy ground”?
Armenian? = ?

Diyadin : Anatolian? Armenian? Kurdish? = Armenian Tateon, Kurdish Giyadin
Doğubayazit : Ottoman =doğu “east” Bayazit was Turkish lord
Elişkirt : Armenian (Urartrian?) = Aleskert/Vaghashkert “plain”?+sth?
Hamur : Turkish = dough
Patnos : Armenian (Urartrian?) = Badnoc/Patnoc “woodshead”
Taşlıçay : Turkish = “tea with stones”
Tutak : Armenian? Kurdish? Persian? = Armenian Duthak “plain”? Kurdish Dutax “two avenues”?

[Bender1999]

Amasya province

Amasya : ? = Greek “Aeseia”—> named after Amazons?
Göynücek : ? = ?
Gümüşhacıköy : Persian/Arab/Turkish =Seljuks and İlkhanids: Gümüşpazarı “silver bazaar” gümüş “silver” hacı “pilgrim“ köy “village”
Hamamözü : Ottoman (Arab/Turkish) = hamam “Turkish bath” öz(ü) “fruitful place”? “friend?” “joy”? “yourself”?
Merzifon : Persian? Persian+Armenian? Persian Merzban “march lord” ? Persian+Armenian “border”+”city”?
Suluova : Turkish = “plain with water”
Taşova : Turkish = “stone plain”

[Bender1999]

Ankara province

Akyurt :Turkish = ak “white” yurt “home”
Altındağ : Turkish = altın “gold/golden” dağ “mountain”
Ankara : Anatolian(Hittite) = Ankuwas
Ayaş : Turkish? = “glossy night”?/ named after Turkmen settlement?
Bala : Turkish? = “child”?/ named after Turkmens?
Beypazarı : Ottoman (Turkopersian) = bey “lord” pazar “bazaar”
Çamlıdere : Turkish = “watercourse/stream with fir/pine”
Çankaya : Turkish? = ?
Çubuk : Turkish = named after Seljuk authority
Elmadağ : Turkish = elma “apple” dağ “mountain”
Etimesgut : ? = ?
Evren : Turkish = named after Turkish general (putschist, i wonder why they dont change it), formely Çıkınağıl: Turkmen/nomad settlement
Gölbaşı : göl “lake” başı “the head of”
Güdül : Turkish = name of Seljuk authority
Haymana : Turkish = steppe
Kalecik : Turkish? = named after a castle
Kazannow Kahramankazan : Turkish(Persian?) = named after boilers, which Ottoman soldiers left after theie defeat against Timur, kahraman “hero”
Keçiören : Turkish = keçi “goat” ören “ruins”? or “who knits”?
Kızılcahamam : Ottoman = “healing waters”?
Mamak : ? = ?
Nallıhan : Ottoman? = caravanserai in the near of Nallı river? or “inn with horseshoes”?
Polatlı : (Turko-) Persian = Persian for “iron” “strong”, Turkmen tribe(?)
Pursuklar : ? : ?
Sincan : ? : ?
Şereflikoçhisar : Turkish? = Seljuk castle, Atatürk added şerefli “with honour”
Yenimahalle : Turkish(Arab/Ottoman/Persian) = yeni “new” mahalle “street/avenue”

[Bender1999]

The name "Tokat" comes from the Greek version of the old Persian name "Dahyu"("Dokia" in Greek). It means "country, principality" in Old Persian

Just now i was at my „student flat“, all my books are there. And according Friedrich Cornelius Tokat is of Hittite origin( Takupta)

[Bender1999]

Antalya province

Alanya : Arabic/Persian?(Seljuk/Turkish) = named after Sultan Alâeddin Keykubad I.
Manavgat : Anatolian? Greek? Armenian? = ancient name Manaua, Armenian Manavgat
Serik : Turkish = Turkmen tribe
Kemer : Turkish? = named after flood protection wall
Kumluca : Turkish = kum “sand”, named after sandy land where melons grow well?
Finike : Anatolian? Phoenician? Greek = Gree/Latin: Phoenix, Phoinix, Phineka, named after Phoenicians
Kale : Ottoman? Seljuk? (Persian?Arabic?) = kale “castle/fortress”
Kaş: ? = ?

Edit: Gazipaşa : Turkish = named after Atatürk( as honour)

[Bender1999]

Artvin province

Artvin : Georgian?Laz? = Artvini?
Ardanuç : Laz/Georgian + Armenian = Georgian Artanuji, Laz Artanish-Uji “edge of Ardahan”
Arhavi : Laz = Arkabi “old village”
Borçka : Laz/Georgian = Laz Borçxa, Georgian Borchkha
Hopa : Laz = Xopa
Murgul : Laz/Georgian? = Murghuli
Savşat : Armenian? Georgian? Laz? = Armenian Shavshat, Georgia Shavshati
Yusufeli : (Arab)+ Turkish = eli from il “province”, “the province of Yusuf”