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Laz First Names
Naming a child in Lazuri is one of the plainest ways a family keeps the language in use. A name is said every day, by people who may speak no other Laz word, and it outlives the generation that chose it. The names below are drawn from Laz name lists circulating among Laz cultural associations, with their meanings as those lists give them.
Each name is written in Lazuri, followed by its sense. Where a source gives no meaning, that is said rather than guessed.
Girls’ names
- Aliyoni
- Seabird, gull
- Bedi
- Fortune, fate
- Butka
- Leaf
- Dadali
- Beautiful; rose
- Elva
- To rise, to go up
- Esvara
- Everything
- Ezmoce
- Dream
- Gyuli
- Rose
- İlimba
- One who is loved
- İsina
- Garden
- Liva
- Snowmelt
- Loresima
- Daisy
- Loya
- Sweet
- Mani
- Quick, swift
- Mčima
- Rain
- Medea
- Daughter of the king of Colchis
- Mira
- Face, countenance
- Moni
- Bead
- Nena
- Language, tongue
- Okro
- Gold
- Pavri
- Leaf
- Peri
- Colour
- Şana
- Happiness
- Tana
- Shine, glitter
Boys’ names
- Ağani
- New
- Akoni
- From here, local
- Arte
- Single light
- Aşena
- Given in the sources as a Laz name, without a meaning
- Barnuk
- A Laz king
- Biç’ina
- Listed as a Laz name, without a meaning
- Dirvana
- Sky-blue dove
- Ekana
- Given in the sources as a Laz name, without a meaning
- Evro
- The south wind
- Gubaz
- A Laz king — see Gubazes II of Lazica
- Guroni
- Brave, courageous
- İrday
- May he grow
- İrden
- Growing
- Jurte
- Two lights; second light
- Lande
- Reflection
- Mapa
- King
- Medi
- Hope
- Mukhala
- Listed as a Laz name, without a meaning
- Nogure
- Ideal, goal
- Opodrace
- Beloved, precious, one and only
- Orena
- Open square, arena
- Şineri
- Respected
- Tanas
- May he shine
- Taneri
- Enlightened, lit up
- Tanora
- Dawn
- Tanura
- Brightness, light
- Ʒate
- A Laz king
- Zifona
- Storm, wind
Names given for either
- Kiana
- World
- Mzuğa
- Sea
- Barva
- Storm — listed as a boy’s name in one source and a girl’s in another
Saying it in Lazuri
Four sentences from the same name lists, useful for anyone naming a child or introducing one:
- Çkimi coxo Şana ren.
- My name is Şana.
- Bozomota/Bozo çkimis Medea coxo gebodvare.
- I will give my daughter the name Medea.
- Mčima, mskva ar coxo ren.
- Mčima is a beautiful name.
- Lazepek, berepe muşis Lazuri coxope gyoduman.
- The Laz give their children Laz names.
A note on the lists
These names come from lists compiled and circulated by Laz cultural associations rather than from a single scholarly reference, and they are not consistent with one another. A few names appear on both a boys’ and a girls’ list, and several are given with no meaning attached. They are reproduced here as they are given, with the disagreements marked rather than smoothed over.
Several are transparent Lazuri words you will also find in the glossary: nena (language), mzuğa (sea), mčima (rain). Others reach back into the history of the region: Gubaz and Ʒate were kings of Lazica, and Medea belongs to the myth of Colchis.