ottoman names

Nürettin is Arabic, Nur ad-Din, light of the faith.

lovely. any idea what şerafettin amounts to?

sharaf ud din is the nobility of religion.

Same root as the sharif of Makkah or Omar Sharif.

how about shigabutdin, and what other names are there?

Shihab is a falling star. It is also used for the torch that lights the path while traveliing at night. So torch of the religion.

There is also Shamsuddin= Sun of the religion.
Nasiriddin= supporter of the religion.
Alamuddin= Flag of the religion.
and there are many others. Then there is this:
Qamaruddin= moon of the religion. This term is however used, in the levant, for sheets of dried apricot that are sold in Ramadan, therefore the moon connection. People use them to make Apricot juice which they drink as they break their fast.

The history of those terms is that they were used as honorific titles to be given to leaders or judges or scholars. They were in addition to their actual names. for examples Saladdin was called by the tile Nasireddin. However, more recently, those titles became proper names.

I hope this helps and take care all.

thanks a lot hlatif, that's a wonderful explanation

is the nasir part in nasiridin the same as the egyptian general's name?

it is but his name was Abdul Nasir= Slave or servant of the supporter and the supporter is God.

hussein

the supporter of what would god be?