What Does Adyghe Mean?

Updated October 8, 2026 · 5 min read

Adyghe: the self-name

Adyghe (Адыгэ), also written Adyga, Adiga, Adige or Adığe, is the Circassians’ own name for themselves: the endonym. A Kabardian, a Shapsug, an Abdzakh or a Temirgoy is, first of all, Adyghe. “Circassian” is an exonym, a name given from outside: it is Latinized from the Russian Cherkess, and Turkish says Çerkes. In English “Circassian” still means all Circassians.

Where the word “Adyghe” comes from

Nobody knows for certain. Two views are found in the sources:

• “High”. One view derives it from Iатыгъэ (Atyghe), “high”, meaning mountain people: Circassians have lived in and near the mountains of the Caucasus for a very long time.
• The Zygii. The medieval Circassian people called Zygii appear as “Adzakha” in inscriptions of the Bosporan kingdom, which suggests an older form Адзыгъэ (Adzigha) that became Adyghe.

“Circassian” and “Cherkess” are just as debated. Suggested origins include a Turkic phrase meaning “head choppers”, the Mongolian Jerkes (“one who blocks a path”), Siraces, the ancient Greek name of the region, a Persian “mountainous region” (kar + kās), the Persian Chahār-kas, “four peoples” (medieval Arab historians wrote Jahārkas), and Kerket, the name of an ancient Circassian tribe. Early Russian chronicles called the Circassians Kasogi.

Adyghe, Circassian, Cherkess

All three name the same people: Adyghe is their own word, Circassian the English one, Cherkess (Черкес) the Russian one, Çerkes the Turkish one. Two things make it confusing:

• In Russia, “Cherkess” meant all Circassians before Soviet times. Since then it has usually meant only the Circassians of Karachay-Cherkessia, and Soviet authorities counted Circassians under several names, such as Kabardians, Cherkess and Shapsugs.
• In linguistics, “Adyghe” also names West Circassian, the language of Adygea, as opposed to Kabardian, East Circassian. More in Kabardian vs Adyghe.

The twelve Adyghe tribes

Traditionally the Circassians are counted as twelve tribes:

The twelve gold stars of the Circassian flag stand for them. The nine stars in an arc are the nine aristocratic tribes, ruled by princes; the three stars in a row are the three democratic tribes, the Natukhai, Shapsug and Abdzakh, which ran their affairs through assemblies. The Ubykh spoke a language of their own, Ubykh. More in the Circassian flag.

In the Caucasus, Kabardians are by far the largest group today, with the Temirgoy and Bzhedug in Adygea, the Shapsug near Tuapse, and a few Besleney, Natukhai and Abdzakh villages. In the diaspora most Circassians are Kabardian, Abdzakh or Shapsug.

Adyghaghe: Circassianness

Close to the word “Adyghe” is адыгагъэ (Adyghaghe), roughly “Circassianness”. It is the ethical side of Habze, the Circassian code of conduct: honour, decency, honesty, truthfulness, a sense of shame, knowing how to behave in company, sensitivity and attentiveness, and respect for elders and for the other sex. To have Adyghaghe is to live by those values. More in Habze, the Circassian code.

Adyghe today

The word lives on wherever Circassians do: in Adygea, the republic named after it, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, and across a diaspora of millions in Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Germany and the United States. Being Adyghe there is carried by families, community associations, names and, more and more, by learning the language again. Read Who are the Circassian people?, Adygea, the Circassian homeland and the Circassian diaspora today.

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