Circassians - Name

Name

In their own language the Circassians refer to themselves as Adiga (also transliterated as Adyga, Adyge, Adygei, Adyghe, Attéghéi). The name is believed to derive from atté "height" to signify a mountaineer or a highlander, and ghéi "sea", signifying "a people dwelling and inhabiting a mountainous country near the sea coast, or between two seas".

A common name for the Adyghe is Circassians (ser-KASS-ee-uhnz), a name which is occasionally applied to all peoples of the North Caucasus. The name Circassian is a Latinisation of Cherkess, the Turkic name for the Adyghe, and originated in the 15th century with medieval Genoese merchants and travellers to Circassia.

The name Cherkess is applied to the Adyghe by the Turkic peoples (principally Tatar and Turkish) and the Russians. The name Cherkess was usually explained to mean "warrior cutter" or "soldier cutter" from the Turkic words cheri (soldier) and kesmek (to cut), so that Cherkess would be synonym for soldier cutter.