Anthroponyms Uygurs from Turhan

Abstract

In the 11th century, themajority of theancient Uighur Turks leftt heir homeland of Ötüken andsettled in the Turfan Valley, located in what is now the Xinjiang region of northwestern China. There, they established the semi-independent Kingdom of Qocho. During theera of thiskingdom, Uighur culture developed significantly in line witht hedemands of the time. Administrative organization, documentation, legal matters, and civil-economic relations were conducted at a level comparable to those of thecivilized world. This advancement was also reflected in theuse of personal names. Unlike the Göktürk period, written sources from this erawidely recorded personal names, including those of women. Amongthe Turfan Uyghurs, male names and titles (titulars) are predominant. These onomastic elements are mainly composed of the following categories: totemic names, purpose ful (intentional) names, accidental (coincidental) names, theophoric names (names involving divine elements), names given accordingto parental wishes, names given in connection with specific individuals, names formed with words denotingrank and title. In the Turfan Uighur Turkic inscriptions, female names, in terms of structure, can be classified as follows: female names formed based on titles, female names based on good wishes ordesires for the child, femal enamesconsisting of cosmogonic concepts, female names composed of ethno-anthroponyms, female names that express the emotions of the parents. Taking these features into account, this article presents a comprehensive study and analysis of the namingsystem of the Uighur Turks in the Turfan region.