Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Category group·124 surnames

Animals

Surnames
124
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
64
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Şahin
People
688,2144
Şahin

How did these surnames come about?

Look at the thirty most common surnames in TÜİK ADNKS 2025 and you meet a small menagerie. Şahin, “falcon”, ranks 6th with 688,214 bearers. Arslan is 11th, Aslan 14th, Kurt 17th and Koç 18th. Doğan ranks 12th, though that name has two readings, discussed below. So many animal names near the top of the national list make this one of the most striking parts of the surname stock.

Four subgroups

  • Birds of prey: Şahin, Doğan, Kartal, Atmaca, Sungur, Çakır.
  • Other birds: Turna, Bülbül, Keklik, Kuğu, Kumru.
  • Lions, wolves and predators: Arslan, Aslan, Kurt, Kaplan, Pars.
  • Domestic and other animals: Koç, Tay, Kuzu, Ceylan, Maral, Arı.

Words and meanings

Animal names are often read as images of a quality: the lion for strength, the falcon for sharp sight, the ram for manliness. Dictionaries record such senses too; TDK gives koç the figurative meaning “brave, strong young man”. Which quality a family had in mind, however, is not known. These pages describe only the meaning of the word and do not go into symbolic or political readings attached to animals.

The origins vary. Kurt (wolf), koç (ram), kartal (eagle) and turna (crane) are Turkic. Şahin and bülbül (nightingale) come from Persian. Arslan and Aslan are two forms of one word; Arslan is the older, and the two stand in the registers as separate surnames.

Shape

Animal surnames are usually plain. In compounds a colour comes first: Akdoğan, Karaaslan, Bozkurt, Karakoç. The final animal word carries the meaning. Agent nouns in -CI such as Doğancı (falconer), Arıcı (beekeeper) or Deveci (camel driver) describe a person who works with animals and belong to the occupational surnames.

The 1934 setting

Article 8 of the Surname Law gave the senior civil administrator of the place of registration the power to settle disputes over surnames. The same article left to that office the decision whether a name complied with the law. Animal names were not on the law's list of bans.

Why it is interesting

Several animal words had been used in Turkic personal names for centuries. Arslan and Doğan were known as names before they became surnames. Their move into fixed family names in 1934 gave an old naming stock a new role.

Sources1,2,3,4

Which categories make up this group?

  • Birds of prey49 surnames

    Surnames from hunting birds: falcon, peregrine, eagle, sparrowhawk, gyrfalcon (sungur), saker and toğrul. Central to falconry and to old Turkic naming, these birds evoke courage and keen sight. Doğan also has the reading 'one who is born', so it needs care.

  • Other birds27 surnames

    Surnames from non-raptor birds such as crane, nightingale, partridge, swan, pigeon, turtledove, lark and sparrow, and from the general word for bird. Frequent in folk songs and poetry, these birds evoke beauty, song and longing.

  • Lions, wolves and predators38 surnames

    Surnames from predatory mammals: lion (Aslan/Arslan), wolf (kurt, börü), tiger and leopard (pars). Symbols of strength and valour, these animals appear often in old Turkic names, as historical names like Alparslan and Kılıçarslan show. Only the meaning of the word is described; no political reading of symbols is added.

  • Domestic and other animals82 surnames

    Surnames from domestic animals, game and other creatures: ram, foal, bull, lamb, gazelle, deer, red deer (maral), bee and fish. Koç (ram), with its connotation of manly courage, is the most common surname in the group.

Which of them are most common?

  1. 6 Şahin 688,214
  2. 11 Arslan 521,149
  3. 12 Doğan 485,906
  4. 14 Aslan 409,459
  5. 17 Kurt 289,723
  6. 18 Koç 286,207
Members in the national top 30, people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025).

All surnames in this group

#SurnameMeaningOriginRankLetters
01 Şahin hawk, buzzard Persian 6 5
02 Arslan lion Turkic 11 6
03 Doğan falcon; rising, born Turkic 12 5
04 Aslan lion; brave, strong Turkic 14 5
05 Kurt wolf Turkic 17 4
06 Koç ram; sturdy, brave Turkic 18 3
07 Akat white horse Turkic – 4
08 Akbaba vulture Turkic – 6
09 Akbaytogan white, wealthy falcon Turkic – 10
10 Akdoğan white falcon; born pure Turkic – 7
11 Akkoç white ram Turkic – 5
12 Akkoyun white sheep Turkic – 7
13 Akkurt white wolf Turkic – 6
14 Akkuş white bird Turkic – 5
15 Akkuzu white lamb Turkic – 6
16 Aksungur white gyrfalcon Turkic – 8
17 Aktay white colt Turkic – 5
18 Alakuş pied bird Turkic – 6
19 Argun weasel; bold, dashing Turkic – 5
20 Arı bee; pure, clean Turkic – 3
21 Arkoç ar + koç ‘ram’ Turkic – 5
22 Arslanboğa lion-bull Turkic – 10
23 Atmaca sparrowhawk Turkic – 6
24 Aybars moon-bright leopard Turkic – 6
25 Aykoç moon + ram Turkic – 5
26 Bakar ox; or ‘he looks after’ Arabic – 5
27 Balaban bittern; reed pipe; hefty Persian – 7
28 Balık fish Turkic – 5
29 Baykurt noble wolf Turkic – 7
30 Berktay sturdy colt Turkic – 7
31 Boğa bull Turkic – 4
32 Bozarslan grey lion Turkic – 9
33 Bozatlı rider of a grey horse Turkic – 7
34 Bozdoğan merlin (falcon); a mace Turkic – 8
35 Bozgeyik grey deer Turkic – 8
36 Bozkurt grey wolf Turkic – 7
37 Böcek insect, bug Turkic – 5
38 Böcekler the insects Turkic – 8
39 Buğa bull Turkic – 4
40 Buğra male camel Turkic – 5
41 Büke dragon; girl’s name Turkic – 4
42 Bülbül nightingale; sweet singer Arabic – 6
43 Ceylan gazelle Mongolic – 6
44 Çağrı saker falcon; call, invitation Turkic – 5
45 Çakal jackal Persian – 5
46 Çalıkuşu bush bird, a songbird Turkic – 8
47 Çayan scorpion Turkic – 5
48 Çekirge grasshopper Turkic – 7
49 Çetinaslan tough lion Turkic – 10
50 Demirboğa iron bull Turkic – 9
51 Doğaner male hawk Turkic – 7
52 Doğanlar falcons; the Doğans Turkic – 8
53 Eraslan lion-hearted hero Turkic – 7
54 Erkoç brave as a ram Turkic – 5
55 Erşahin valiant hawk Persian – 7
56 Geyik deer Turkic – 5
57 Göktay blue foal; moon in the sky Turkic – 6
58 Gürtuna strong, fierce leopard Turkic – 7
59 İyidoğan good falcon; well-born Turkic – 8
60 Kanatlı winged Turkic – 7
61 Kaplan tiger Turkic – 6
62 Karaaslan black lion; mighty hero Turkic – 9
Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.4

Common questions

Which animal surname is most common?

In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Şahin ranks 6th nationally with 688,214 bearers, the highest of the animal names in the top thirty.

Are Arslan and Aslan the same surname?

They are two forms of one word, Arslan being the older. In the registers they are separate surnames.

Do animal surnames express a quality?

Dictionaries give some figurative senses, such as “brave” for koç. Which quality a family had in mind is not known.

Sources

  1. 1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
  2. 2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
  3. 3T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
  4. 4Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)