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| Ardabil Province - Iranian Azerbaijan |
The head of Ardabil Province's civil registration authority, Vahid Kholusi, highlighted that the model for naming children in the province has “strangely” changed.
Speaking to the semi-official Tasnim agency, Vahid Kholusi expressed concern over the preference for “strange names,” many of which are Turkish or of Turkish origin, in Ardabil. He pointed out that this shift in naming trends had raised alarms.
"In past years, girls' names were mostly chosen from blessed Islamic names like Fatima, Zahra, and Maryam. Today, however, parents are increasingly choosing unusual names like Mahlin and Nihan. For boys, we see that names like Ayhan, Arkan, and Alişan have become more popular, replacing traditional names like Ali, Muhammad, and Amir," the head of the registration office stated.
Vahid Kholusi emphasized that it is important to pay attention to the change in naming practices in Ardabil.
He said, "Given that Ardabil is a city with a Shiite and religious identity, it is expected that families will be more careful when naming their children. Instead of foreign and less accepted names, they should choose more appropriate names for their children."
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of families in Iranian Azerbaijan and other provinces with Turkish populations choosing Turkish names for their children. Many families prefer names that are particularly popular in Turkey.
Families in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran have been trying to raise their voices through social media, as they have struggled for months or even years to obtain ID cards for their children with the Turkish names they have selected. Previously, reports circulated on social media about Iranian authorities refusing to issue ID cards for names such as Alp Orhan, Sevgi, Yağış, Oğuz Kaan, Onur, Alparslan, Atakan, Ayıl, Hakan, Anar, Türkay, Tarkan, and Volkan. Some of these names were eventually registered after families filed multiple appeals to the registration offices or courts.
In various cities, civil registration offices often refuse to issue ID cards for names that are not of Iranian or Islamic origin, are foreign, or are not included in the approved list.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Rəsmi: Ərdəbildə uşaqlara ad vermə modeli dəyişib, artıq dini adlara üstünlük verilmir