Mongol Women's Names

by Jessica Bonner

edited by Arval Benicoeur

copyright 2001

The names in this article were collected from several histories of the Mongol people, and range in date from the 13th to the 17th century. Most of the women listed here were wives or sisters of the Khans. Some women were identified by more than one name; I have noted these cases. A few of these women took baptismal names upon marriage to Christians. Some women were identified by more than one name; I have noted these cases.

There are several systems for transliterating Mongolian to the Roman alphabet. Different transliterations of the same name can be quite different, and the correct pronunciation is not always obvious.

Mongol Names

Aigiarn "Shining Moon", also called Khutulan; niece of Kublai Khan, mentioned by Marco Polo 13th C [3]
Borte variant: Bortei; wife of Temujin (Ghengis Khan), daughter of Dei Sechen of Onggirad 12th C
Chabi 2nd wife of Kublai Khan 13th C
Conchaka sister of Uzbek, Khan of the Golden Horde; baptized Agafia 14th C
Doquez-khatum wife of Hulagu Khan, a Nestorian princess 13th C
Goland Died beside her husband in battle in 1696 17th C [2]
Ho'elun mother of Temujin 17th C [2]
Khultulun niece of Kublai Khan, mentioned by Marco Polo (see called Aigiarn 13th C [3]
Kokachin accompanied Marco Polo to Hormus in 1292, married the Persian prince Ghazan; variants: Kukachin, Cocachin 13th C [3]
Mandughai wife of Mandaghol Khan 15th C [2]
Oghul Qamish wife of Guyuk Khan; variants: Ogul Gamys, Ogul Ghaimish 13th C
Orqina Khatun of the Chagatiid Horde 1252-1260 13th C
Sorghaghtani Beki wife of Tolui, son of Temujin; variants: Sorghoktani, Sorkhaqtani 13th C [1]
Toregene wife of Ogodei Khan; variant: Törägänä 13th C


Baptismal Names of Mongol Women

Agafia originally named Conchaka; wife of Yuri III Daniilovich, Grand Prince of Muscovy 14th C
Anna 2nd wife of Fedor Rostislavic  
Fedora wife of Gleb Vasilkovich, and daughter of Mensu-Timur [4]
Maria wife of Narimund of Lithuania 14th C

Bibliography

[1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, Mongol Names in 13th Century Latin (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000, http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/tartar/). This description of a papal to Central Asia in 1245-1247 was written by one of the participants.

[2] David E. Jones, Women Warriors: A History (Washington: Brassey's, 1997). His main source was Florence Wheelock Ayscough, Chinese Women, yesterday and to-day (New York: De Capo Press, 1975; reprint of the 1937 edition).

[3] The Travels of Marco Polo (Dorset Press 1987, ISBN: 0-88029-135-4).

[4] Vladimirian chronicle, P.S.R.L. (Moscow, 1965), vol. 30 pp. 87-90. "In the winter Gleb Vasilkovich came from the Khan land, from the Czar, after having married into the Horde."

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