Şamil

Adopted by the Caucasian diaspora to honor Sheikh Shamil (Imam Shamil, d. 1871), the prominent Naqshbandi sheikh and leader of the North Caucasian independence struggle against the Russian Empire. Originally a neo-Circassian name specific to the diaspora, over time it became highly popular among Islamist Turks who wished to honor the Imam, and subsequently spread to the general Turkish public.