Turkish Classical Music has arrived today as a work of Ottoman geography's major culture. Many naming used for stating Turkish Classical Music is a work of society living in this major culture and its changing, novelties, and its use of music practices in the historical process. This research aims to reveal the causes of a great variety of naming being used for stating Turkish Classical Music by analyzing Turkish Classical Music’s namings, its changings in the historical process in the context of ideological discussions in the process of transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey on the basis of these discussions and music's relationship with society. The intention of this research is not to propose which name must be used. The intention is to present an idea about these naming's emerge processes and their causes. In the direction of this aim general survey model was used because it is aimed to reveal the existed condition. Data were obtained by using document review and literature review methods. Obtained data were converted and interpreted with the content analysis method. As the sum of interpreted data, it is understood that naming variety in Turkish Classical Music is resulted from changings in historical processes, society's music practice variety, the development of the Ottoman Empire's last period, ideologic front's discourse, and sanctions in the early republican period.
Keywords: Turkish Classical Music, naming, early republican period, Ottoman/Turkish music, westernization, modernization