Turkish Lullabies (Ninni) for Babies: What They Mean and How to Sing Them

In many Turkish homes, the day ends with a lullaby, sung by a parent or a grandmother. If you are raising children far from Türkiye, or in a home with two languages, these songs bring Turkish into the quietest part of the day. Here is what ninni means, five traditional lullabies with their opening lines in plain English, and simple ways to sing them even if your Turkish feels rusty.

What does "ninni" mean?

Ninni is the Turkish word for a lullaby. It is also a word you sing: many lullabies end each line with a soft ninni, the way English songs use "hush". Most Turkish lullabies are anonymous folk songs that passed from one generation to the next by ear, so the words change from family to family and region to region. If your grandmother sang a line differently, her version is just as right.

Five traditional Turkish lullabies and bedtime songs

1. Dandini dandini dastana

Dandini dandini dastana,
Danalar girmiş bostana

"Dandini, dandini, dastana, the calves have got into the vegetable garden."

This is one of the best-known Turkish lullabies. The first line has no neat English translation: dandini and dastana are sung for their sound and their rocking beat more than for their meaning. The song then becomes a small farm story, with the gardener asked to chase the calf away before it eats the cabbage. Families sing it while rocking a cradle, a beşik, or a baby in their arms.

2. Uyusun da büyüsün ninni

Uyusun da büyüsün ninni,
Tıpış tıpış yürüsün ninni

"Let the baby sleep and grow, ninni, let the baby walk with tiny steps, ninni."

It is a wish more than a story: may the baby sleep, grow and soon toddle. Tıpış tıpış is the sound of small, quick footsteps. Turkish has no "he" or "she" in these lines, so the same words fit any baby.

3. Dandini dandini danalı bebek

Dandini dandini danalı bebek,
Elleri kolları kınalı bebek

"Dandini, dandini, little baby, baby with hennaed hands and arms."

It starts with the same rocking sound. Danalı is hard to translate (literally "with a calf") and seems to be there mostly to rhyme with kınalı, "hennaed". Henna, kına, is a festive touch at many Turkish family celebrations. Some families sing it together with Uyusun da büyüsün.

4. Fış fış kayıkçı

Fış fış kayıkçı

"Swish, swish, boatman."

Fış fış is the sound of water against a boat, and a kayıkçı is a boatman. Strictly speaking it is a play song, not a lullaby: you hold your child's hands and rock back and forth, as if rowing. Sung slowly, it can be a calm last song.

5. The lullaby you make up yourself

Many traditional lullabies open with Ninni derim, literally "I say ninni", and then the singer adds whatever is on their mind: the baby's name, a wish, a grandparent far away. Making up lines is part of the tradition. A line such as Ninni yavrum, ninni, "lullaby, my little one, lullaby", sung again and again to any slow tune, is a real ninni.

How to sing a ninni if your Turkish is shaky

• Start with humming. Turkish parents often hum a soft e-e-e while rocking a baby. Hum the tune first and add words later.
• Use only the first line. Sing Dandini dandini dastana again and again. Lullabies repeat by nature.
• Add your child's name. Put it where ninni goes: "Uyusun da büyüsün, Deniz..." The old song becomes your family's song.
• Go slow. An even, rocking rhythm matters more than perfect pronunciation. Two tips: ş sounds like "sh", and the dotless ı is roughly like the "e" in "the".
• Ask a grandparent. Record their version on a call, and keep a family voice for the nights when they are far away.

A simple bedtime routine with a ninni

1. Lights down, same chair.
2. One short story. Our guide to Turkish bedtime stories has ideas for read-alouds.
3. Two lullabies, always in the same order, for example Dandini dandini dastana, then Uyusun da büyüsün.
4. A minute of e-e-e humming.
5. The last words in Turkish: İyi geceler, kuzum, "good night, my lamb".

The point is not a perfect performance but the same small ritual, night after night. For more short daily habits, see Turkish for toddlers at home.

Bedtime picks from Roots & Talks

Stories for after the cradle. The Good Night, My Türkiye bundle has five bedtime audio stories for children ages 4 to 9, for an older sibling or the years ahead. Each story is told in Turkish with gentle English echoes and slows down toward the end. It is a digital download: 5 MP3 files, about 21 minutes in total, and a 12-page picture book (PDF) per story.

One story at a time. In Ela and the Star That Flew to Grandma, a golden star carries Ela's good night in Turkish over the sea to her grandmother. Pingucan and the Simit Moon is a sleepy night ferry ride through Istanbul, under a moon that looks just like a simit. Each comes as one MP3 and a 12-page picture book (PDF).

A blanket for the last song. The Bir Masal Daha baby swaddle blanket is a soft jersey blanket, 30 × 40 in, with Eylül and the words Bir masal daha!, "One more story!", what a child says when a story ends too soon. Lovely for cuddles and the last song in your arms. There is also a fleece version.

A picture for the wall. The Starry Tea portrait poster shows a grandmother in a red headscarf and a child reading a picture book over glasses of tea, while golden stars rise above them. Seven sizes, 5 × 7 to 24 × 36 in; frame not included.

More stories are in the E-Books & Audio Stories collection; see also Turkish audio stories for bilingual kids. For a baby shower, see Turkish gifts for a new baby and new parents.

Bedtime words in Turkish

• Ninni: lullaby
• Uyu: sleep (said to a child)
• İyi geceler: good night
• Tatlı rüyalar: sweet dreams
• Yavrum: my little one
• Kuzum: my lamb, a loving name for a child
• Beşik: cradle

Keep the songs going

A ninni does not need a good voice, a full set of lyrics or perfect Turkish. It needs a quiet room, a slow rhythm and someone who loves the child. Sing the one line you remember, ask a grandparent for the rest, and let your family's version grow a little every year.