MaleOrigin: Arabic

Zeki: Meaning, Origin and Pronunciation

Zeki is a boy’s name of Arabic origin. It means “intelligent, clever”.

Say it: zeh-kee

About the name Zeki

Meaning: intelligent, clever
Origin: Arabic; From Arabic dhakī.
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: zeh-kee

How to pronounce Zeki

Turkish spelling is phonetic: every letter is pronounced, and each letter always has the same sound. Our respellingzeh-kee is an approximation for English speakers. Turkish stresses syllables much more evenly than English, so avoid hitting one syllable hard. Tap the letters below for tips.

Zeki

Letters English doesn’t haveFamiliar letters with a Turkish twist

Every letter in Zeki sounds close to English. Just keep each vowel short and pure, without the glides English adds (“o” not “oh-oo”).

Practice the sounds in the Turkish alphabet tool or readhow to pronounce i, dotless ı and soft g.

Zeki with Turkish suffixes

Turkish adds case endings where English uses prepositions. With a personal name the ending is separated by anapostrophe (Zeki'ye, Zeki'nin), but it is still pronounced as one word. The apostrophe only marks where the name ends; the suffix itself follows the usual rules.

The last vowel of Zeki is i, a front unrounded vowel. So two-way suffixes take e and four-way suffixes takei (vowel harmony):Zeki'de, Zeki'yi.

Because Zeki ends in a vowel, a buffer letter keeps two vowels apart:y in Zeki'yi, Zeki'ye and Zeki'yle, and n in the genitive Zeki'nin.

Case forms of Zeki
Case	Form	Example
Accusative (object)	Zeki'yi	Zeki'yi tanıyor musun? Do you know Zeki?
Dative (to)	Zeki'ye	Zeki'ye bir mesaj yazdım. I wrote a message to Zeki.
Locative (at / with)	Zeki'de	Anahtarlar Zeki'de. Zeki has the keys. (lit. The keys are at Zeki.)
Ablative (from)	Zeki'den	Zeki'den bir hediye aldım. I got a present from Zeki.
Genitive (’s)	Zeki'nin	Bu Zeki'nin çantası. This is Zeki’s bag.
Instrumental (with)	Zeki'yle	Dün Zeki'yle konuştum. I talked with Zeki yesterday.

Forms are generated by TurkLogic’s tested grammar engine. See every case explained in theTurkish noun cases guide, or check the harmony of any word in thevowel harmony calculator.

More male names of Arabic origin

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Zeki mean?

Zeki is a Turkish boy’s name meaning “intelligent, clever”. Its origin is Arabic. From Arabic dhakī.

How do you pronounce Zeki?

Say it roughly as “zeh-kee”, keeping every vowel short and clear.

How do you add suffixes to Zeki in Turkish?

Because Zeki is a proper name, case endings go after an apostrophe and follow vowel harmony: Zeki'ye (to Zeki), Zeki'nin (Zeki’s), Zeki'de (at Zeki’s) and Zeki'yle (with Zeki).