GÜNÜMÜZ ALEVİ VE BEKTAŞİ TOPLULUKLARINDA İSİM KÜLTÜRÜ ÜZERİNE BİR ANKET ÇALIŞMASI: İSTANBUL ÖRNEĞİ (A Survey on Naming Culture in Contemporary Alevi and Bektashi Communities: Istanbul Example)

Abstract

The name is not only an identifier of the individual but also of the family, community, society and culture. In this study, it is aimed to interpret the attributional attitudes of contemporary Alevi and Bektashi communities with the idea that names have influence on the behaviors of the individuals. The basic point of the study is that the name completes the person and the person completes the name. However, the name is both individual and social. The name of the individual is actually the visible part of the iceberg; on the other part there exists a deeper level which reflects all experiences of society from past to present. Therefore, individual names are cultural, just like traditional. Each community and society may have a unique name. The universe of this study is Istanbul and the research sample consists of 224 people male and female who are over 18 years old. The research technique consisted of a structured questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions and the data were analyzed with SPSS. In Turkish culture, it is not a coincidence but a preference of social memory that families give their children respectively religious/well-known/loved person-oriented names. It is understood that the Alevi and Bektashi communities, which are an important part of our society, have given names to their children through their own traditional understanding and that they pay attention to ensure a harmonious relationship with the rest of the society. Alevi and Bektashi communities prefer to use the names of Ehli Beyt as well as of giving importance to the names inspired by nature. Although there is a male-dominated understanding in the naming hierarchy of the studied group, it is understood that women’s ideas are also important with urbanization.