There’s no many information and clear picture of Roma and many scholars agree that Roma people came to Middle East from India. In terms of Roma migration there is no established history. Estimates go to 5-15th centruies with one or more migrations. One of the key elements for establishing collective identity is the name and about Roma that issue is complex.

Roma is also called by different names in different countries. These names were related to Roma's position in social life, professions and appearances. In many countries, Roma are called Tsingoni, Tigan, Zigenare, Zigeuner, Tsiganes, Sigan, and many researchers see the reason for this naming in the fact that Roma are or are related to groups called "Atsingani", "Atsinganoi" in Byzantine empire. The Atsinganoi are noted to have been followers of the magician Simon in the 1st century and practiced magic and fortune-telling, so it is thought that Roma had a connection with them. When talking about the "Athinganoi", the author of „Book of Roma“ („Çingenelerin kitapı“) Ali Mezarcıoğlu mentioned that they call themselves "Untouchables" and that they live in areas away from people in order to remain clean. The untouchables thought that the impure characteristics of the people around them would be passed on to them, and they neither touched people nor wanted to be touched. In the Turkish language, we often see Roma being called "Çingene" („Chingene“). There are different opinions about the origin of this name. There is information about the origin of the word: Persian „Çingāne“, Old Turkish „Çıgañ“, and Turkey Turkish Çığan/Çığay that means "poor“, „indigent“. Professor Ismail Altınöz noted that those who support the idea that Roma came to Iran from India also point out that the word "Çingene" is of Persian origin. This name is thought to have been given to Roma because of the work they did. It has been mentioned that the word "cheng" means a musical instrument similar to a lute, and "chengi" means a person who plays this instrument and a dancing girl. Researcher, professor Hüseyin Yıldız noted that "gan" or "gen" was added to the word "chengi" as a suffix, and it was suggested that it means "chengizhilik", "chengilik", " Çingeneler".

Roma who migrated to Middle Eastern areas at different times are called "Rom", "Lom", "Dom" and are considered as different groups. It is known that Roma is called differently in different areas of Turkey, according to H.Yıldız, these names are "Abdal, Arabacı, Beyzade, Cano/Jono, Elekçi, Esmer Vatandaş (Dark-skinned citizen), Gurbet/Gurbeti, Karaçi/Karaçi, Karaoğlan (Blackboy), Coptic, Lulu, Mango, Mutrib/ Mutrip, Pırpır, Posha/Bosha/Pasha, Sepetchi (Basketmaker), Teber, Todi" are included.

As we mentioned, these names were related to Roma's occupation, their social position in society, their appereance, as well as the dialects used by the local population. We see that Roma, which is thought came to Van and Ardahan, regions of Anatolia, from the Destan region of Iran, is called "Mitrip". This word is of Persian and Arabic origin and means "Speaker", "Player". The reason for this was that this group was engaged in busking and music.

Another name of Roma is Karachi, which shows two approaches to this word. The Turkish word "kara" means "black" and "chi" means the suffix to form a noun from a noun. Researchers point to Roma's skin color and appearance as the reason for the origin of this word. At the same time, the Sanskrit word "kala" has the same meaning as the word "kara". Altinöz notes that the name "Karachi" is the name given to the Roma from Iran because they live in tents and are tanned. Yıldız presents the second approach and separates the word "kara" („to look at" in Turkish dialects), suffixes "k" and "çi" and notes that it means "karakçi" - "fortune teller". 

Lom people living mainly in Erzurum, Artvin, Erzincan, Bayburt, Sivas in Turkey is known as Bosha/Posha. In folk etymology, the word “Bosha” comes from the Turkish word “bosh”, which means empty, deprived, or poor.

The term "Kipti" („Coptic“)used for Roma originated in the Ottoman period, and the name was given to the Roma because they were thought to have come from Egypt. There are 2 approaches regarding this naming. In 1384, Italian politician, writer and traveller, Niccolo Frescobaldi stated that the Roma lived on a hill called "Little Egypt" in Modon, Greece, and later migrated to Europe.

The second approach is thought to be that Roma came to Europe through Egypt and that is why they were called Kipti. Also, some sources saw the reason for this in the fact that Roma called himself a Christian pilgrim from Egypt. It is also thought that "Kipti" comes from the Greek word "aigyptos", which sounds like the word Nikaptah, the capital of Egypt. According to Yildiz, the word "egyptian/egyptian, agyption/agysion" which means "coming from Egypt" later became "gypsy, gitano, evgit, gitan, kypti, gifti". 

Today, calling Roma "Gypsy" is considered unacceptable by themselves, because this word has acquired pejorative meanings over time. Hancook noted that the word "Gips" or "Gypsy" is derived from the words Egipcian, Egypcian, Gypcian, Gipcian, Egyptian, written in various forms in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Multiple naming of Roma in Turkey created huge confusion for Roma, also for others. This paves the way for new questions to arise. Are they different nations? This contributes that some Roma do not consider themselves Roma. The reason is mostly misunderstanding and misuse of word of Roma.