I received an email from someone called Ogulsabyr, and I’m not sure whether to use Mr. or Ms. in my reply. That is, I was wondering whether Ogulsabyr is a male or female name. I’ve tried search engines, but could not find anything helpful.
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2This is not exactly RL&U question, as it is not a Russian name, but it is, possibly, the best place for this on SE, so I’ll have an answer in a few minutes.– theUgFeb 14, 2013 at 2:18
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@theUg, Please ignore my ignorance on this! Thank you... I look forward to know.– user9292Feb 14, 2013 at 2:30
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2And this is not a stupid question. I, for one, did not know this, and would not know how to address this person had I not also known their last name (if it was patterned as I described in my answer). I shall edit your question accordingly. :)– theUgFeb 14, 2013 at 2:42
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1Many thanks, theUg!!!!! Your information is very helpful :-)– user9292Feb 14, 2013 at 2:46
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1 Answer
It is a Turkmen name, and it is a girl’s name. To add some general knowledge so one could identify those names in the future, here is the quote from the ethnography Tradition and Society in Turkmenistan: Gender, Oral Culture and Song by Carole Blackwell (2001, Richmond, Surrey, UK, p. 62):
In families with several daughters, it is not uncommon for the name of every girl to began with Ogul, the Turkmen word for son; common examples are Ogulsabyr (let us wait patiently for a son), Oguldursun and Oguldurndy (may a son be born who will stay), and Ogulgerek (we need a son).
Also, as a general rule, many people form former Soviet republics adopted for their family names the convention from Russian tradition, that is, the pattern to end the last name with -ov (-ow) for males and -ova (-owa) for women (grammatical gender identification). You can see many of this type of last names amongst, say, respective Olympic athletes.
