Abstract
This article is devoted to the study of toponymic legends of Turkic peoples as a genre of non-fairy folk prose, unique folklore motifs about the reasons for naming certain toponymic objects. Toponymic legends, being a vivid example of folk etymology, reflect the mentality of the people who composed them, contain information about toponyms that carry historical, geographical and ethno-cultural information. The purpose of this scientific work is to determine the names of geographical objects in the legends of Kazakh, Karakalpak and Tatar peoples, to find out why these legends belong to toponymic ones. The study of legends of Turkic peoples revealed that many toponymic legends are associated with the names of historical and popularly known personalities, who are the plot-forming component. The plots in toponymic legends are considered uni-motivated, but contain fantastic elements. Compared to historical legends, toponymic legends have a clear plot structure, time and location of the event and orientation on historical facts. The results presented in this paper, obtained by comparative analysis, as well as by analyzing the stories about the naming of individual toponymic objects, are important because they convey the ancient names of various places currently located in the territory of Turkic-speaking countries. The material for the study were samples of legends published in various editions of Kazakh, Karakalpak and Tatar folklore.