The toponyms of Turkey result from the legacy left by several linguistic heritages: the Turkish language (spoken as first language by the majority of the population), the Greek language, the Armenian language, the Kurdish language, the Laz language as well as several other languages once spoken widely in Turkey. Turkey's place names range from those of unknown or unrecognizable origins to more clearly derivable onomastics. Many places have had their names changed throughout history as new language groups dominated the landbridge that present day Turkey is. A systematic turkification of place names was carried out when the worldwide wave of nationalism reached Turkey during the 20th century (See also: Place name changes in Turkey).

Toponyms of population centers in Turkey Adana: from the Hittite URUAdaniya of Kizzuwatna,See, e.g., Sirekli Archaeological Project. alternatives: related to the legendary character Danaus, Greek tribe Danaoi, Egyptian enemy country Danaja, Mycenaean refugees Dananayim or Danuna, and Da-na-vo (people living by the river), Scythian nomad people. Adıyaman: As the official Ottoman Turkish name Hısn-ı Mansur ("Castle of Mansur", or Kurdish variation Semsûr) was difficult for the locals to pronounce, people were referring the city as adı (its name) yaman (tough) since the early 19th century, u.e. "its name is tough" or "(the place) whose name is tough" in Turkish. Afyonkarahisar: from , "poppy, opium", kara "black", hisar "fortress"., i.e. The black castle of the Opium city in Turkish (The area around has a long tradition of growing opium for the drug industry and was subject of much controversy when under US pressure Turkey forbade opium growing for a period in the seventies). Ağrı: From Ağrı (Ararat) Dağı‎ (mountain), Turkification of Kurdish Agirî (first as Eğri). The town center was known earlier as Karaköse (kara black, köse beardless and mustacheless, i.e. The guy with dark complexion lacking facial hair in Turkish) formalized from KaraKise, short for Kara Kilise (Black Church) referencing a medieval Armenian church at Alashkert (Armenian: Ալաշկերտ Alaškert) some 34 km west. Aksaray: From Ak (white) Saray (serail/palace), i.e. The white palace. Akyaka, Muğla: From Ak (white) Yaka (side/coast), i.e. The white shore. Alanya: The Seljuks renamed the city Alaiye (علائیه), a derivative of the Sultan Alaeddin Kayqubad I's name, from earlier versions (in Latin as Coracesium or in Greek as Korakesion from the Luwian Korakassa meaning "point/protruding city", The Roman Catholic Church still recognizes the Latin name as a titular see in its hierarchy. Under the Byzantine Empire it became known as Kalonoros or Kalon Oros, meaning "beautiful/fine mountain" in Greek, In Italian Candelore or Cardelloro.). In his 1935 visit, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk finalized the name in the new alphabet as Alanya, changing the 'i' and 'e' in Alaiye, reportedly because of a misspelled telegram in 1933. Aliağa: after a member of the influential Karaosmanoğulları ayan family, Karaosmanoğlu Ali Ağa, who owned an estate here. Amasya: From the Greek name Ἀμάσεια comes from Amasis, the queen of the Amazons, who were said to have lived here. The name has changed little throughout history: Ἀμάσεια, Amaseia, Amassia and Amasia are all found on ancient Greek and Roman coinage and continue to be used in modern Greek. , Ottoman Turkish أماصيا, and modern Turkish Amasya all represent the same pronunciation. Anamur: from the Ancient Greek "Anemourion" (), Latinized as "Anemurium", meaning "windmill".ἀνεμούριον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus project Ankara: From the original Ánkyra (,  "anchor") in Greek and Ancyra in Latin, Angora in many European languages and Engürü in Ottoman Turkish. Antakya: From , Anṭākyā, previously أنطاكيّة, Anṭākīyyah from , Anṭiokia; , Antiókheia Antalya: The city was founded as "Attaleia" (), named after its founder Attalos II, king of Pergamon. This name, still in use in Greek, was later evolved in Turkish as Adalia and then Antalya. Ardahan: from , Art'aani; , Ardahan. Artvin: from , ; Laz: ართვინი Artvini, Armenian: Արդվին Ardvin Aydın: from EYE-din; (meaning enlightened); formerly named Güzelhisar. Ancient Greek name is Tralles. Ayvalık: from Ayva (quince) and lık (suffix along with lik, luk, and lük to mean purposed for') i.e. quince orchard in Turkish. Ancient Greek name is Kydonies (Κυδωνίες). The new name is Hellenized to Aivali (Αϊβαλί). Balıkesir: from Türkmen Balak Hisar because of the remains of castle, as Hisar is the Turkish word for castle. The castle was Byzantine small town which had become increasingly neglected, known as Palaeokastron (Greek: Παλαιόκαστρο) meaning Old Castle. The original castle was emperor built for Hadrian in A.D. 124, as a result of a successful bear hunting. Pre-Byzantine dynasty had used this castle as a vacation area and for hunting. Bartın: From the antique Parthenios city (Παρθένιος in Greek) which dates back to 1200 BC, when its area was inhabited by the Kaskian tribe. Batman: origin of the name "Batman" for the river and the oil city is unclear: it might be a shortening of the name of the tall Bati Raman mountain located nearby or refer to the unit of weight used in the Ottoman Empire. Bingöl: Its old name is Çapakçur. This name was given by Alexander the Great.Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, Istanbul 1999, c. III, s. 225. (,,) Bitlis: From ; ; ; ; Balales Bodrum: In classical antiquity Bodrum was known as Halicarnassus (ancient Greek: Ἁλικαρνασσός,Ἁλικαρνασσός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus project ), a major city in ancient Caria. The modern name Bodrum derives from the town's medieval name Petronium, which has its roots in the Hospitaller Castle of St. Peter (see history). Bolu: From Boli, Turkicized short for the Greek Polis 'city'. Burdur: From the Byzantine era, city bearing the name Polydorion (). Burhaniye: renamed Burhaniye after the Ottoman Prince Şehzade Burhanettin. previously called Taylıeli ('Town of Taylı') village, named after one of the Turkish beys who came to the aid of Seljuk ruler Süleyman. At the beginning of the 14th century it came under the domain of the Karasids and grew as it attracted migrants. In Ottoman times, it was also known as Kemer and attached to Edremit until 1866. Bursa: After Prusias I, the King of Bithynia who in 202 BC. was granted the Greek city of Cius, which rebuilt the city and renamed it Prusa (; sometimes rendered as Prussa) Çanakkale: From Çanakkale ceramics, compared by one traveler to Delftware, and an Ottoman fortress called Kale-i Sultaniye () or Sultaniye kalesi (Fortress of the Sultan). As of 1920, the British began to call Çanakkale, Chanak and Kale Sultanie in their reporting. The place was earlier known by the straits Greek name Δαρδανέλλια, Dardanellia,Régis Darques, Salonique au XXe siècle: De la cité ottomane à la métropole grecque, editions CNRS 2000 p.299. Çankırı: From its name in antiquity Gangra. The city has also been known as Changra, Kandari or Kanghari. Çeşme: From "Çeşme" meaning "spring, fountain" in Persian (چشمه), and the first settlement 2 km south of the present-day center Çeşmeköy ('town with fountain' in Turkish) founded by Tzachas. Çorum: ; from Karum Akkadian: kārum "quay, port, commercial district", plural kārū, from Sumerian kar "fortification (of a harbor), break-water" ancient Assyrian trade postsBritannica Online in Anatolia (modern Turkey) from the 20th to 18th centuries BC. Datça: from Stadia, a name of the city of Cnidus. Stadia developed into Tadya, Dadya, Dadça, and then Datça.Tülay Artan, "Journeys and Landscapes in the Datça Peninsula: Ali Agaki of Crete and the Tuhfezade Dynasty", in Antonis Anastasopoulos, ed., Halcyon Days in Crete 6, Rethymno: Crete University Press 2009, p. 339 full text Denizli: In the 17th century, the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Denizli and recorded the town as follows: "The city is called by Turks as (Denizli) (which means has abundant of water sources like sea in Turkish) as there are several rivers and lakes around it. In fact it is a four-day trip from the sea." Dikili: origin of the name (means upright in Turkish) is unclear, might mean an obelisk, a single stone column, or a not-fallen dead tree. Ancient Pitane and as yet unexplored site of Atarneus are located nearby. Diyarbakır: from diyar (land of) and bakr (unclear which of these is the origin: tribe name bakr, or Kurdish for north bakur, or Turkish for cupper bakır) The city is called , , , , ) Doğubeyazıt: from Doğu (east) and Beyazit after the Turkish warlord Celayırlı Şehzade Bayazıt Han who ordered one of the rebuildings (in 1374) even though the old castle with Armenian name Daruynk.Edwards, Robert W. (1988). "Bayazit," Encyclopædia Iranica III.8, 1988, pp.886-887 . was repaired many times throughout history. Ultimately, the town was renamed Beyazit itself in the 16th century and later in the 1930s a new town was built in the plain below the old site, hence the new name "Doğubayazıt", which literally means "East Beyazıt". Düzce: From Düzce Pazar (Flattish Bazaar or market on flat ground) a marketplace on the plain 8 km from the historical Konuralp, the seat of the Turkish conqueror of the area on behalf of Osman I at 13th century. Edirne: From Adrianople (Hadrianopolis in Latin or Adrianoupolis in Greek, founded by the Roman emperor Hadrian on the site of a previous Thracian settlement named Uskudama), Edremit, Balıkesir: From the original in Greek Adramyttion () or Adramytteion (Άδραμύττειον) Enez: From the original in Greek Ainos (), Latinized as Aenus. Erbaa: From "Erbaa" means "four" in Arabic. Erek (Niksar and Amasya), Karayaka, Sonusa (Uluköy), and Taşâbat (Taşova) were collectively named as Nevah-i Erbaa, "four towns" in Arabic as they were in the same region and close to one another. Erdek: formerly Artàke, Erzincan: Acilisene, the ancient city that is now Erzincan, was the site of the Peace of Acilisene by which in AD 387 Armenia was divided into two vassal states, a smaller one dependent on the Byzantine Empire and a larger one dependent on Persia. This is the name (Ἀκιλισηνή in Greek) by which it is called by Strabo in his Geography, 11.4.14. The etymological origin of the word is disputed, but it is agreed that the city was once called Erez. For a while it was called Justinianopolis in honour of Emperor Justinian. In more recent Greek it has been called as Κελτζηνή (Keltzene) and Κελεζηνή (Kelezene)Raymond Janin, v. Celtzene ou Celezene in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XII, Paris 1953, coll. 130–131 In the Armenian language, the 5th-century Life of Mashtots called it Yekeghiats In the more recent past, it was known in Armenian as Երզնկա (Yerznka) Erzurum: A neighboring commercial city named Artze (Arcn, Arzan; Armenian: Արծն) was heavily sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1048–49.Garsoïan, Nina G. "Theodosioupolis". Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, vol. 3, p. 2054. Its Armenian, Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, which they began calling "Artsn Rum" (meaning Artze of the Rûm, i.e., Romans) to distinguish it from their former residence.See Joseph Laurent's extensive note in his L'Arménie entre Byzance et l'Islam depuis la conquête arabe jusqu'en 886, 1919, new edition revised and updated by Marius Canard, Lisbon: Librairie Bertrand, 1980, pp. 87–88, note 83. Markwart, Joseph. Südarmenien und die Tigrisquellen nach griechischen und arabischen Geographen. Vienna: Mechitharisten-Buchdruckerei, 1930, pp. 41, 334, 339.Hewsen. "Summit of the Earth", pp 42–44. Some older sources derive the name Erzurum from the Arabic Arḍ ar-Rūm () 'land of the Rûm'. Darbinyan, M. «Էրզրում» [Erzurum] Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1978, vol. 4, p. 93.