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. German linguist and Turkologist Marcel Erdal, citing Baron Tiesenhausen, 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 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 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 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, an 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 encyclopaedist * 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 * 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

References