It's all in a name...

Having suffered my share of childhood torment over my namesake, I wanted to post some details from a conversation shared with several Americans a few nights ago. We were discussing Turkish names.

The friends in question are relatively new to Turkey, and commented that Turkish names sound similar to those of Klingons. It was a welcome reminder of my first year here, as I long ago adjusted to the sound Turkish names, tending now to get stuck on their meanings.

Being in a school setting, myself and fellow teachers have encountered a few that are especially worth sharing.

Hurşit (yep, that's "horseshit")

Tuba (pronounced just as it looks)

Tunacan (pronounced "too-na-jon", but who's going to guess that?)

Nigar (uh...)

Incidentally, my name is a disaster here, as it both uses a character that doesn't exist in Turkish ("X") and is not written phonetically. People remember my first name easily enough, as it is similar to the Turkish word for the vocal arts. Whenever someone has to spell it, however, or reads it from my passport, it becomes "Sea-an Jocks".

Not so bad, considering the case of an American woman here, who goes by Tash (which means "stone" in the native speak). She had to shorten her moniker from Natasha, which is Turkish for "prostitute".