Hi, I´m writing a novel, and my main character, Fatma, is a very defensive Turkish woman. I would like to give her a last name that means "Heavy Armor" (like the kind medieval knights wore) in Turkish.

I used an online dictionary to get: "Fatma Ağırzırh." Is that correct?

What are some other ways to say "Heavy Armor?"

Thank you very much!

Historically, Turkish fighters hardly ever donned heavy armor in battles. Some used light armor, but most preferred none.

Fatma Zırhlı would satisfy your intentions...forget "heavy" bit.

Thanks, that´s a good point. I would like to keep "ağır" because I think it fits her personality: serious, grave, and repellent. However, history is important to me, and I´m also considering "Fatma Ruhzırh." Her mind is a psychological fortress, and she lets no one in.

I noticed you used "Zırhlı" instead of "Zırh." Why is that? In English, grammar doesn´t matter for last names. Fatma Armor, Fatma Heavyarmor, Fatma Mindarmor are all acceptable (but maybe a little strange). Is the same true for Turkish, or are there more rules for last names?

For example, here are some last names I´m considering. Are they believable or silly? (I found some different forms of zırh on Google. I don´t know what they mean--sorry if my Turkish is horrible--but to my untrained eye they look like interesting last names.)

• Ağırzırh
• Ruhzırhla
• Ağırzırhlı
• Ruhzırhlar
• Ağırzırhların

Thanks for all your help! I hope I´m not being too bothersome.

Do you want realistic or fantastic names? I think Zırhlı / Ağırzırhlı etc. (and your other examples) will be very fantastic. If you want to have real names, you shouldn´t use them. If you want fantastic, keep it as Ağırzırhlı (like a big battle vehicle "with heavy armor")

PS: zırhlı because -lı is a suffix of "with"

Zırh is armor, zırhlı is (something) with armor

 They all seem strange to me. That´s because "zırh" doesn´t yield something acceptible (for me anyway).

Instead something with "demir" (iron) or "çelik" (steel) for example would be more acceptable.

Demirbilek = iron wrist

Demirkol = iron arm

Çelik bilek = steel wrist

Çelik kol = steel arm

etc.

Thank you. I really like your suggestions.

I would prefer a realistic name. A little fantastic is OK--some people have uncommon names.

Some ideas:

• Demiryürek -- Seems like a realistic last name that means "iron heart."
• Zırhyürek -- Is Zırhyürek a little fantastic, or very fantastic? (Demir is a noun, and zırh is a noun...it seems like I can replace "demir" with "zırh" to make a name that is unusual but not fantastic.)
  

Demir is a noun but can also be an adjective:

Demir çubuk = iron bar

Demir kapı = Iron door (door made of iron)

Zırh normally cannot be an adjective so zırhyürek is not OK.

Something with zırh in it doesn´t sound so cool (to me) but it´s your choice.

Even demirgövde/demirvücut (ironbody) sounds better than something with "zırh" in it.

Ahhh. That makes sense now, thanks.

I like Demiryürek. Is there any word I can replace "demir" with that means...

• English: wall, guard, protect, armor, shield, defense, [etc.]
• Turkish: duvar, korumak, zırh, kalkan, siper, savunmak, [etc.]

...without sounding bad?

Kılıç (sword)

In fact we have such historic names:

Kılıç Aslan (Name of a Sultan) = Sword Lion

Kılıç Ali Paşa = Sword Ali Pasha

So some more suggestions:

Kılıç kalkan Fatma (Sword Shield)

Çelik gövde Fatma (Çelik gövde=Steel body implies "zırh" also)