In C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books, Aslan means “lion” in Turkish.
Aslan is the great lion who appears throughout The Chronicles of Narnia. He is the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea and serves as Narnia’s creator, protector, and rightful ruler. The Turkish word “aslan” means “lion,” making the character’s name a direct description of his form.
Aslan first appears in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, published in 1950. His role includes guiding the Pevensie children and opposing the White Witch, whose rule has brought an unnatural winter to Narnia.
The name is sometimes mistaken for a purely invented fantasy term. Lewis was familiar with languages and mythology, and “aslan” is an established Turkish word. The character’s name therefore combines a simple linguistic meaning with the symbolic importance of the lion in the story’s moral and religious framework.