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 Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

. German linguist and

Turkologist Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and the Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative c ...

Marcel Erdal Marcel Erdal (born 8 July 1945) is a linguist and Turkologist. He is Head of the Turcology department at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. He graduated from Istanbul's Robert College in 1963. Publications * ''The Turkic Nagy-Szent-Miklos Ins ...

, citing Baron

Tiesenhausen The House of Tiesenhausen is an old Baltic-German noble family. The origins of the family are in Lower Saxony. During the Baltic crusades they settled in Livonia in the first half of the 12th century. Bishops Albert of Riga and Herman of Tart ...

, traces ''çalab'' back to

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''djellaba'' "importer, trader, merchant" > "high social positions"; ''jallāb'' is derived from root ''j-l-b'' "to have brought, to import", ultimately from

West Semitic The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of Semitic languages. The term was first coined in 1883 by Fritz Hommel.

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 Sinop * The sons of Ottoman sultan

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

, who fought one another for the throne in the

Ottoman Interregnum The Ottoman Interregnum, or Ottoman Civil War, (, ) was a civil war in the Ottoman realm between the sons of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I following their father's defeat and capture by Timur in the Battle of Ankara on 28 July 1402. Although Ti ...

of 1402 to 1413: **

İsa Çelebi Îsâ Çelebi (; – September 1403) was an Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the empire during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background İsa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the Ottoman sultan. His mother was Devletşah Hatun, the daughter of ...

(1380–1406) **

Musa Çelebi Musa Çelebi ( 1402 – 5 July 1413) was an Ottoman dynasty, Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire, empire for three years during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background Musa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the fourth Ottoman su ...

(died 1413) **

Mehmed Çelebi Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

(1390–1421), who won the civil war, being crowned sultan Mehmed I **

Mustafa Çelebi Mustafa Çelebi ( — May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. He ruled parts of Rumelia twice between January ...

(1393–1422) **

Süleyman Çelebi Süleyman Çelebi (also Emir Süleyman; – 17 February 1411) was an Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire for several years during the Ottoman Interregnum. There is a tradition of western origin, according to which Suleiman th ...

(1377–1411) *

Suzi Çelebi of Prizren Suzi Çelebi of Prizren (; died 1524) was an Ottoman poet and historiographer. He is remembered for his epic poem ''Gazavatnama Mihaloğlu'' which narrates the 15th-century Balkan conquests of the Ottomans, and the battles and glory of the militar ...

(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 Ebussuud Efendi (, 30 December 1490 – 23 August 1574),İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, ''Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı'', Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 114. was a Hanafi Maturidi Ottoman jurist and Quran exegete, served as the Qadi (judge) of ...

(1490–1574), Ottoman Grand Mufti *

Seydi Ali Reis Seydi Ali Reis (1498–1563), formerly also written Sidi Ali Reis and Sidi Ali Ben Hossein, was an Ottoman admiral and navigator. Known also as Katib-i Rumi, Galatalı or Sidi Ali Çelebi,Danışan, Gaye. 2019. “A Sixteenth-Century Otto ...

(1498–1563), or Sidi Ali Ben Hossein, an Ottoman admiral and nautical writer. * Kınalızâde Ali Çelebi (1510/11?–1572), Ottoman jurist and writer *

Aşık Çelebi Pir Mehmed ("Mehmed the Pir"; 1520–1572), better known as Aşık Çelebi ("Gentleman Bard" in Turkish), was an Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator. Born in Prizren, he served as '' kadi'' (judge) in many towns of the Rumelia. His majo ...

(1520–1572), Ottoman poet and biographer *

Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi (c. 1546 – 1604) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman poet and bibliographer of the 16th century. His main work is the ''Tezkiretü'ş-Şuara'' (Memoirs of the Poets), one of the best known Ottoman ''tezkires'' (bibliograph ...

(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 Anton Bogos Çelebi (; 1604 – 1674) was an Armenian merchant magnate and Ottoman and later Tuscan official in 17th century. '' Gonfalonier'' of Livorno. He was a brother of Hasan Agha. Name and title Anton bore the title ' çelebi''. Bio ...

(1604–1674), Armenian merchant magnate, Ottoman and Tuscan official *

Abro Chelebi Abraham "Abro" Chelebi (died 1676) was an Ottoman-Armenian merchant. Abro Chelebi served as the purveyor of the Ottoman Army from 1644 onwards. Following the execution of his patron Gazi Hüseyin Pasha in 1659, Abro Chelebi was also jailed but man ...

(died 1676), Armenian merchant, Ottoman army purveyor *

Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi (;hezarfen
TDK Büyük Türkçe Sözlük. Erişim: 26 Mayıs 2009 1 ...

(1609–1640), alleged Ottoman aviator and polymath, brother of Lagâri Hasan Çelebi *

Lagâri Hasan Çelebi Lagâri Hasan Çelebi was an Ottoman scientist, engineer and aviator who, according to the account written by traveller Evliya Çelebi, made a successful crewed rocket flight. Account Evliya Çelebi reported that in 1633, Lagari 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 encyclopaedist *

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

(1611–1682), Ottoman explorer and travel writer *

Eremia Chelebi Eremia Chelebi Kömürjian (12–13 May 1637 – 15 July 1695) was an Ottoman-Armenian writer and intellectual from Constantinople. Background Eremia's recent ancestors came from the district around Kemah in the Armenian highlands. Eremia's gre ...

(1637–1695), Ottoman Armenian intellectual and travel writer *

Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi (ca. 1670–1732), also Mehmed Efendi (sometimes spelled Mehemet Effendi in France), was an Ottoman statesman who was delegated as ambassador by the Sultan Ahmed III to Louis XV's France in 1720. He is remem ...

(c. 1670–1732), Ottoman statesman * (1789-in/after 1849), namesake of

Seyit-Settar Mosque The Seyit-Settar Mosque () is a mosque (''cami'') in Old Simferopol neighborhood of Simferopol, Crimea. History Records indicate that the mosque was funded in 1850 by the then Simferopol city mayor, merchant . During the Great Purge, the mosqu ...

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

, Crimea

Seljuk & Ottoman Sufi family

Çelebi is a family of descendants of

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

(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 Asaf Halet Çelebi (27 December 1907 – 15 October 1958) was a Turkish mystical poet. Although not very widely known, due to his erudite and often foreign-influenced style, he is considered to be Turkey's first surrealist poet. Biography ...

(1907–1958), Turkish poet * Hasan Çelebi (1937–2025), Turkish calligraphist * Huseyin Çelebî (1967–1992), Kurdish activist and writer *

Nilgün Çelebi Nilgün Çelebi (born 1950) is a Turkish academic. She studied sociology at the Hacettepe University in Ankara and worked as Professor of General Sociology and Methodology at the Department of Sociology, at the University of Ankara and the Uni ...

(born 1950), Turkish academic

As part of surname

* Âmil Çelebioğlu (1934–1990), Turkish researcher and professor *

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; ; 13 August 1996) was a Romanian people, Romanian Conducting, conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over fi ...

(1912-1996), Romanian conductor, born Celebidachi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celebi Ottoman Empire Turkish titles Ottoman titles

Title

Seljuk & Ottoman Sufi family

Surname (post-Ottoman)

As part of surname

See also

References