Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Affix·63 surnames

Er-

man, brave warrior

Surnames
63
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
13
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Erdoğan
People
233,5353
Erdoğan
Position
first element

What does Er- mean?

Erol is a small sentence. It joins er with the imperative of the verb ol- ‘to be’, giving the advice ‘be a man, be brave’. The name shows how flexibly er is used in surnames.

The Güncel Türkçe Sözlük gives er the senses ‘man’, ‘brave person’ and ‘private soldier’. In surnames the sense ‘brave man, warrior’ is the one that matters. Er is an independent word and does not change under vowel harmony. It combines with a front-vowel element in Ertürk and a back-vowel element in Ersoy, and stays the same in both.

As a first element, er qualifies the second element with the idea of bravery. The semantic head is the second element. Ertürk is ‘brave Turk’, Ersoy ‘brave lineage’, Eryiğit ‘manly, valiant youth’. In Erkut the second element is kut ‘good fortune, blessing’. Erbaş is explained as ‘head of the brave’. Ercan means ‘brave soul’ and Erhan ‘brave khan’.

Erdoğan has two readings. Doğan is the name of a bird of prey, which gives ‘brave falcon’. The same word can also be the participle ‘born, rising’. Sources do not settle on one reading for this surname. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Erdoğan ranks twenty-sixth with 233,535 bearers. Ertuğrul is an old personal name; its second element is usually explained as the name of a bird of prey.

The name most often misread is Erdem. Erdem is a headword meaning ‘virtue’ and is not er plus dem. Erkan is not built with this element either. It comes from Arabic erkân ‘pillars, leading figures’. Eren, Ergin, Erim and Erinç derive from the verb ermek ‘to reach, to mature’, and so does Ermiş. Erik is a fruit, ‘plum’, and Erkek ‘male’ is a word of its own. The analysis of Erdal and Erman is disputed, so they are not split without a source. Erciyes and Ergenekon are proper names.

The same form also occurs at the end of surnames; names such as Alper and Özer are treated on a separate page under the final element -er.

Sources1,2,3

What does Er- do grammatically?

Meaning
man, brave warrior
Function
First element; 'man, brave warrior' qualifying the second element.

Which words does Er- combine with?

first element Er- man, brave warrior + doğan falcon; or born, rising Erdoğan + aydın bright; enlightened Eraydın + bakan present participle of bakmak:… Erbakan + bay rich; respected man Erbay + bek lord; or firm Erbek + berk hard, firm Erberk + bulak spring Erbulak + can can: soul, life; dear one Ercan + çetin çetin: tough, hard to overcome Erçetin + çin çin: true, real (Old Turkic) Erçin + dan / tan tan: dawn Erdan + demir demir: iron Erdemir + dener ablative suffix Erdener + deniz sea Erdeniz Er- man, brave warrior + doğan Erdoğan + aydın Eraydın + bakan Erbakan + bay Erbay + bek Erbek + berk Erberk + bulak Erbulak + can Ercan + çetin Erçetin + çin Erçin + dan / tan Erdan + demir Erdemir + dener Erdener + deniz Erdeniz
Surnames built with Er-, grouped by the other half (63 surnames, 63 groups). The tree shows the first 14 branches; 49 more are in the list below.

All surnames with Er-

#SurnameMeaningOriginRankLetters
01 Erdoğan warrior falcon; born a hero Turkic 26 7
02 Eralp valiant warrior Turkic – 5
03 Eraslan lion-hearted hero Turkic – 7
04 Eray moon-bright hero Turkic – 4
05 Eraydın enlightened hero Turkic – 7
06 Erbakan the watchful brave man Turkic – 7
07 Erbatur brave hero Turkic – 7
08 Erbay brave, honoured lord Turkic – 5
09 Erbek valiant lord Turkic – 5
10 Erberk a firm, strong hero Turkic – 6
11 Erbulak the hero’s spring Turkic – 7
12 Ercan spirited, fearless man Persian – 5
13 Erçetin tough, unyielding man Turkic – 7
14 Erçin true man Turkic – 5
15 Erdan man of the dawn (form of Ertan) Turkic – 5
16 Erdemir man strong as iron Turkic – 7
17 Erdener a man among men Turkic – 7
18 Erdeniz a brave man vast as the sea Turkic – 7
19 Erdil man of his word, or brave-hearted Turkic – 5
20 Erdinç vigorous, hale man Turkic – 6
21 Erdoğdu a brave man was born Turkic – 7
22 Erdoğmuş a hero is born Turkic – 8
23 Erdost brave friend Persian – 6
24 Erdönmez the man who never turns back Turkic – 8
25 Erduran the warrior who stands firm Turkic – 7
26 Erel land of heroes Turkic – 4
27 Ergenç young hero Turkic – 6
28 Ergezen roaming hero Turkic – 7
29 Ergüder the man who keeps to his goal Turkic – 7
30 Ergül rose among heroes Persian – 5
31 Ergün early-rising sun Turkic – 5
32 Ergüner sun-like hero Turkic – 7
33 Ergüney brave one + south Turkic – 7
34 Ergüven trustworthy man Turkic – 7
35 Erhan brave khan, just ruler Turkic – 5
36 Erkal stay brave; gain strength Turkic – 5
37 Erkaya man of rock Turkic – 6
38 Erkoç brave as a ram Turkic – 5
39 Erköse beardless man Persian – 6
40 Erkul brave, faithful servant Turkic – 5
41 Erkut blessed man Turkic – 5
42 Eroğlu son of the warrior Turkic – 6
43 Erol be brave, be a man Turkic – 4
44 Eronat proper, sensible man Turkic – 6
45 Erozan hero bard Turkic – 6
46 Ersoy line of heroes Turkic – 5
47 Ersöz man of his word Turkic – 5
48 Ersun er (man) + wish ending -sun Turkic – 5
49 Erşahin valiant hawk Persian – 7
50 Erşan glorious man Arabic – 5
51 Erşen cheerful brave man Armenian – 5
52 Ertan man of the dawn Turkic – 5
53 Ertaş hero firm as stone Turkic – 5
54 Ertekin heroic prince Turkic – 7
55 Ertok contented man Turkic – 5
56 Ertuğ standard-bearing hero Turkic – 5
57 Ertuğrul hero-falcon; name of Ertuğrul Gazi Turkic – 8
58 Ertunç man strong as bronze Turkic – 6
59 Ertürk valiant Turk Turkic – 6
60 Eryılmaz undaunted hero Turkic – 8
61 Eryiğit a true hero, brave man Turkic – 7
62 Eryurt homeland of the brave Turkic – 6
63 Eryüksel rise, brave one! Turkic – 8
Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.3

Common questions

Is Erdem an Er- surname?

No. Erdem is a single word meaning ‘virtue’ and is not split.

What does Erol mean?

It combines er with the imperative of ol- ‘to be’: ‘be a man, be brave’.

Is Erkan made of er and kan?

No. Erkan comes from Arabic erkân ‘pillars, leading figures’.

Sources

  1. 1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
  2. 2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
  3. 3Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)