Naming Conventions

The standard form of the Turkmen name is the family name first followed by the given name. It is common for people to refer to each other by their given or first name followed by the father’s name.

Soviet rule also influenced the form of Turkmen names, often putting -vich after a father’s name for men, or -ovna for women. Either -ov or -ev was often added to the family names for men, and -ova or -eva for women. For example, if a family name was Kurban, it would often become Kurbanov for a man or Kurbanova for a women. Following independence and the Russian departure, people returned to the more traditional renditions of family names. The Russian suffixes were replaced with -ogly or -gyzy so that Kurbanova became Kurbanogly or Kubangyzy.

Turkmen are sensitive to and often use titles when addressing each other. Titles are used with first names. Younger people use yashuly when speaking to an older person, while jigi or ini is used when referring to a younger person. In a recent trend, young people are using the more formal jenap and jenaplar for mister; siziс alyhezrentiniz and onyс alyhezretiniz in official situations; and agam as a polite title for a client.