Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Affix·74 surnames

-er

man, warrior

Surnames
74
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
0
ADNKS 2025
Position
final element

What does -er mean?

Two surnames can look almost identical and still be built in different ways. Güler comes from the verb gülmek ‘to laugh’ and means ‘laughing, smiling’. Güner is most likely gün ‘day, sun’ + er ‘man’. This page is about the second type: the word er used as the final element of a compound.

Er is an old Turkic noun. Modern dictionaries give it the senses ‘man’, ‘brave man’ and ‘private soldier’. In surnames it is normally read as ‘brave man, warrior’. As a full word it ignores vowel harmony. Alper has back vowels in its first part and Özer front ones, yet both end in -er. The form never turns into -ar.

That detail is the most reliable test. The verbal aorist suffix does follow harmony and appears as -ar or -er. Uçar (uçmak ‘to fly’), Döner (dönmek ‘to turn’), Gezer (gezmek ‘to wander’), Sever (sevmek ‘to love’) and Yener (yenmek ‘to win’) are all verb forms. Splitting them into a first element plus er ‘man’ would be wrong.

In a genuine compound, er is the head and the first element describes it. Özer is ‘true man’, from öz ‘genuine’. Alper is ‘heroic man’, from alp ‘hero’. Şener joins şen ‘cheerful’; Başer joins baş ‘head, foremost’. Gürer has gür ‘strong, abundant’, and Taner has tan ‘dawn’. For Güner the reading gün + er is the usual one, but no source treats the name directly, so the analysis stays probable.

Kayaer, Yüceer and Kocaer place two vowels side by side. Both are written, and no linking consonant is inserted.

The same word also stands at the start of names such as Ertürk, Ersoy and Erdoğan. Those are covered on the page for the prefix Er-.

Because the ending is only two letters long, mismatches are common. Before analysing any surname in -er, ask two questions. Is the first part a word or a recognised name element in its own right? Or is the whole name an inflected verb? The final letters alone never settle it.

Sources1,2

What does -er do grammatically?

Meaning
man, warrior
Function
The word er 'man, warrior' as final element: Özer 'true man', Alper 'heroic man'. Not to be confused with the aorist participle -(A)r of verbs.

Which words does -er combine with?

suffix -er man, warrior acun + world; originally ‘era, life … Acuner ak + white; clean, honest Aker alp + alp: hero, valiant Alper altıner + gold Altıner aydıner + bright, enlightened Aydıner baş + head; leader, chief Başer bay + rich; respected man Bayer ben + I (first-person pronoun) Bener berker + firm, hard, strong Berker bilginer + scholar, learned person Bilginer bozer + boz: grey, dun Bozer can + soul, life; dear one Caner coşkuner + ebullient, exuberant Coşkuner çeliker + steel Çeliker -er man, warrior acun + Acuner ak + Aker alp + Alper altıner + Altıner aydıner + Aydıner baş + Başer bay + Bayer ben + Bener berker + Berker bilginer + Bilginer bozer + Bozer can + Caner coşkuner + Coşkuner çeliker + Çeliker
Surnames built with -er, grouped by the other half (74 surnames, 73 groups). The tree shows the first 14 branches; 59 more are in the list below.

All surnames with -er

#SurnameMeaningOriginLetters
01 Acuner man of the world Other 6
02 Aker white hero, honest man Turkic 4
03 Alper valiant man, hero Turkic 5
04 Altıner golden hero Turkic 7
05 Aydıner bright-faced man Turkic 7
06 Başer leading man, chief warrior Turkic 5
07 Bayer prosperous, respected man Turkic 5
08 Bener ‘I am brave’ Turkic 5
09 Berker strong, sturdy man Turkic 6
10 Bilginer learned man Turkic 8
11 Bozer grey warrior Turkic 5
12 Caner warm-hearted, beloved man Turkic 5
13 Coşkuner exuberant man Turkic 8
14 Çeliker man tough as steel Turkic 7
15 Çetiner tough, unyielding man Turkic 7
16 Demirer man of iron Turkic 7
17 Denizer man of the sea Turkic 7
18 Dinçer vigorous young man Turkic 6
19 Doğaner male hawk Turkic 7
20 Doğruer honest man Turkic 7
21 Erdener a man among men Turkic 7
22 Erener saintly hero Turkic 6
23 Esener hale and sound man Turkic 6
24 Gençer young man, youth Turkic 6
25 Gerçeker a true man Turkic 8
26 Gökçer handsome man Turkic 6
27 Göker sky hero; blue-eyed Turkic 5
28 Güner sun-bright hero Turkic 5
29 Gürer vigorous man Turkic 5
30 Güvener trustworthy man Turkic 7
31 Haner warrior like a khan Turkic 5
32 Heper always brave Turkic 5
33 Kaner man of noble blood Turkic 5
34 Karaer mighty warrior; dark man Turkic 6
35 Keskiner sharp hero Turkic 8
36 Kılıçer sword warrior Turkic 7
37 Korkmazer fearless warrior Turkic 9
38 Köker sky man or root man Turkic 5
39 Kunter sturdy man Turkic 6
40 Kutluer blessed hero Turkic 7
41 Öner the man in front, leader Turkic 4
42 Özer true man, genuine hero Turkic 4
43 Özşener Öz- + Şener: cheerful man Turkic 7
44 Paker pure-hearted man Turkic 5
45 Peker sturdy, enduring man Turkic 5
46 Saner renowned man Turkic 5
47 Sarper a tough, unyielding hero Turkic 6
48 Saygıner respected man Turkic 8
49 Serter the tough, unyielding man Turkic 6
50 Somer pure man Turkic 5
51 Soyer man of good lineage Turkic 5
52 Sözer man of his word Turkic 5
53 Süer soldier Turkic 4
54 Şahiner brave as a falcon Turkic 7
55 Şener cheerful man Turkic 5
56 Tamer complete man; male name Turkic 5
57 Taner man of the dawn Turkic 5
58 Temizer clean, honest man Turkic 7
59 Toker contented, steady man Turkic 5
60 Tunçer hero hard as bronze Turkic 6
61 Tümer a complete, whole man Turkic 5
62 Türker Turkish hero Turkic 6
63 Türkeri Turkish warrior Turkic 7
64 Tüzüner noble, gentle man Turkic 7
65 Usluer sensible man Turkic 6
66 Uzuner tall man Turkic 6
67 Üner renowned man Turkic 4
68 Ünlüer renowned man, famed hero Turkic 6
69 Üstüner outstanding man Turkic 7
70 Yalçıner man firm as sheer rock Turkic 8
71 Yetkiner accomplished man Turkic 8
72 Yılmazer undaunted man Turkic 8
73 Yiğiter valiant man Turkic 7
74 Yüceer exalted man Turkic 6
The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.

Common questions

Is the -er in Güler the word for ‘man’?

No. Güler is the aorist of gülmek ‘to laugh’ and means ‘one who laughs’. Yener, Sever and Uçar are verb forms of the same kind.

What does Alper mean?

Alper is alp ‘hero’ + er ‘man’, so ‘heroic man’. It is not a compound with Al- ‘red’.

Sources

  1. 1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
  2. 2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük