Çelebi (, ) was an Ottoman title of respect, approximately corresponding to "gentleman", "well-mannered" or "courteous". Çelebi also means "man of God", as an i-suffixed derivative from çalab (), which means "God" in Ottoman Turkish.What does çalab mean? German linguist and Turkologist Marcel Erdal, citing Baron Tiesenhausen, traces çalab back to Arabic djellaba "importer, trader, merchant" > "high social positions"; jallāb is derived from root j-l-b "to have brought, to import",Erdal, Marcel (1982). "Early Turkis Names for the Muslim God and the Title Çelebi" in Asian and African Studies. pp. 411–416 of 407–416. ultimately from West Semitic root g-l-b "to catch, to fetch".
List of notable people Title Notable people with the title include, in approximate chronological order:
Gazi Çelebi, early 14th-century Turkish pirate and ruler of the Black Sea port of Sinop The sons of Ottoman sultan Bayezid I, who fought one another for the throne in the Ottoman Interregnum of 1402 to 1413: İsa Çelebi (1380–1406) Musa Çelebi (died 1413) Mehmed Çelebi (1390–1421), who won the civil war, being crowned sultan Mehmed I Mustafa Çelebi (1393–1422) Süleyman Çelebi (1377–1411) Suzi Çelebi of Prizren (betw. 1455–1465 – 1524), Ottoman epic poet Nishandji Tadji-zade Dja'fer Çelebi (Nişancı Tâcı-Zâde Câ’fer Çelebi; 1459–1515), Ottoman statesman and a diwan poet Hoca Çelebi (1490–1574), Ottoman Grand Mufti Seydi Ali Reis (1498–1563), or Sidi Ali Ben Hossein, Ottoman admiral and nautical writer. Kınalızâde Ali Çelebi (1510/11?–1572), Ottoman jurist and writer Aşık Çelebi (1520–1572), Ottoman poet and biographer Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi (1546–1604), Ottoman poet and bibliographer, son of Kınalızâde Ali Çelebi Kinalizâde Fehmi Çelebi (1564–1596), Ottoman poet, son of Kınalızâde Ali Çelebi Anton Çelebi (1604–1674), Armenian merchant magnate, Ottoman and Tuscan official Abro Chelebi (died 1676), Armenian merchant, Ottoman army purveyor Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi (1609–1640), alleged Ottoman aviator and polymath, brother of Lagâri Hasan Çelebi Lagâri Hasan Çelebi, alleged 17th-century Ottoman aviator (rocketeer; 1633 flight) and polymath, brother of Hezârfen Ahmed Katip Çelebi (1609–1657), Ḥājjī Khalīfa, Ottoman polymath and encyclopedist Evliya Çelebi (1611–1682), Ottoman explorer and travel writer Eremia Chelebi (1637–1695), Ottoman Armenian intellectual and travel writer Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi (c. 1670–1732), Ottoman statesman (1789-in/after 1849), namesake of Seyit-Settar Mosque, Simferopol, Crimea
Seljuk & Ottoman Sufi family Çelebi is a family of descendants of Rumi (13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic), who established and led the Sufi Mevlevi Order ("the whirling dervishes") for over 700 years
Surname (post-Ottoman) Alpay Çelebi (born 1999), Turkish footballer Asaf Halet Çelebi (1907–1958), Turkish poet Hasan Çelebi (1937–2025), Turkish calligraphist Huseyin Çelebî (1967–1992), Kurdish activist and writer Merve Çelebi (born 1993), Turkish-Cypriot volleyball player Nilgün Çelebi (born 1950), Turkish academic
As part of surname Âmil Çelebioğlu (1934–1990), Turkish researcher and professor Sergiu Celibidache (1912–1996), Romanian conductor, born Celebidachi
See also Çelebi (tribe), prominent Kurdish tribe inhabiting the Mardin Province of southeastern Turkey Celebic (disambiguation) Čelebići (disambiguation) Chalabi (surname) Cilibi Moise (1812–1870), Jewish Romanian humourist whose nickname was derived from Turkish çelebi List of Ottoman titles and appellations
References