Bosnian Name Generator

Bosnian names are the most distinctive in the former Yugoslavia because they blend a Slavic language with five centuries of Ottoman and Islamic influence. Bosniak first names are mostly Arabic, Turkish or Persian in origin but spelled and shortened the Bosnian way: Muhamed becomes Mujo or Muho, Ahmed sits alongside Amir, Emir, Adnan, Edin, Kenan, Haris and Tarik, and women are Amina, Lejla, Amra, Ajla, Selma, Emina, Azra, Lamija and Merima. Modern parents also pick short pan-European names like Dino, Alen, Lana, Ena and Sara.

Surnames follow the South Slavic pattern of a root plus -ić ("son of"), pronounced "itch", but the roots are often Muslim given names or Ottoman titles: Hodžić (from hodža, a cleric), Hadžić (from hadži, a pilgrim), Begović (from beg), Pašić (from paša), Halilović, Mehmedović, Muratović, Hasanović, Salihović. Others are trades or places: Terzić (tailor), Kovačević (smith), Sarajlić (from Sarajevo). Because Bosnia and Herzegovina is also home to Bosnian Croats and Serbs, names like Ivan Lovrić or Dragan Simić are Bosnian too.

The list is mostly plausible Bosniak full names, with a block of Bosnian Croat and Serb names and a selection of historical, literary, musical and sporting figures to show which combinations people really carry.