Hatun


Hatun is a Persian name and used as an honorific for women during the Ottoman period.

Honorific

In the Ottoman period, the term hatun was used as an honorific for women, roughly equivalent to the English term lady and a variant spelling of khatun. Like most Turkish honorifics, it is used after the first name. Women traditionally addressed as hatun include:
Valide Hatun was the title held by the "legal mother" of a ruling Sultan of the Ottoman Empire before the 16th century. Ottoman women who were traditionally addressed as Valide Hatun include:
By the beginning of the 16th century, the title hatun for sultan's mother, princesses, and sultan's main consort was replaced by "sultan" and they started to carry it after their given names. This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. Consequently, the title valide hatun also turned into valide sultan.

Given name