Zeliha

📖 About Zeliha

Zeliha is a feminine name of Arabic origin, derived from 'Zulaykha' (also romanised as Zuleikha), the name traditionally given to the wife of Potiphar in Islamic and Jewish tradition — the woman who, according to the Quran and the Torah, attempted to seduce the prophet Yusuf (Joseph). In Sufi poetry and Ottoman literature, Zulaykha became an archetypal figure of passionate, yearning love, and the name Zeliha — its Turkish phonetic adaptation — absorbed that poetic weight. The name entered Ottoman naming culture through classical Persian literature, particularly the celebrated 12th-century poem 'Yusuf and Zuleikha'. In modern Turkey, Zeliha is considered a traditional name with a literary and romantic aura; it was far more common in the early and mid-20th century than today. The variant Züleyha remains in parallel use and carries the same cultural heritage. Both forms reflect the deep intertwining of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish linguistic traditions in the Anatolian naming landscape.