Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Category·Colours and numbers·288 surnames

Colours

Surnames
288
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
34
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Kara
People
290,0244
Kara

How did these surnames come about?

Why is the Black Sea called “kara”, black? One answer offered is that in Old Turkic colours also marked directions: black for north, white for west, red for south, blue for east. Some scholars defend this view and others question it; it is disputed. For surnames there is a further point. Whether a colour in a surname means a direction, strength or simply a colour cannot be said without a source. This hub takes colour words in their dictionary sense.

The basic colours

Kara and ak are the oldest Turkish colour words. Kara means “black”, and dictionaries also list figurative senses such as “strong, great”. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Kara ranks 16th nationally with 290,024 bearers. Ak means “white”, with the further sense “clean, spotless”.

Red has two old names: kızıl and al. Kızıl is the deeper red, al the brighter one. Sarı (yellow) and boz are Turkic as well; boz is a pale, earthy grey. Gök joins this hub in its sense “blue”, though in compounds it often calls up the sky too. Yeşil, “green”, is Turkic and appears in older texts as yaşıl.

In-between colours and derivatives

Ala means “mottled, of several colours”. Akça is ak plus the suffix -çA and means “whitish”; the same word was once the name of a silver coin. Esmer comes from Arabic asmar and is used for a complexion, “dark, wheat-coloured”. Kır, “grizzled”, is grey mixed with white and is used especially of hair and beards.

Primary or secondary?

In surnames colour words usually stand before another word: Karakaya, Akdoğan, Sarıgül. Such compounds belong primarily to the hub of the final noun, and the colour element links them to this page with a secondary tag. Primary members are colour words used alone and derivatives such as Akça. Akın, Akif, Akar and Sarıca are not colour names; their look is misleading.

The 1934 setting

Measured against the Regulation's rule that new surnames come from Turkish (Article 5), kara, ak, sarı and kızıl were the plainest possible candidates: short, old, universally known Turkish words. Arabic-origin words such as esmer had long since become Turkish too.

Why it is interesting

Colour surnames are few on their own and countless in compounds. Kara and Ak are the first syllable of hundreds of surnames. When a colour appears in a surname, the real meaning is usually found in the word that follows.

Sources1,2,3,4

Which of them are most common?

  1. 16 Kara 290,024
  2. 24 Çakır 235,286
  3. 30 Aktaş 222,711
Members in the national top 30, people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025).

All surnames in this category

#SurnameMeaningOriginRankLetters
01 Kara black, dark; dark-haired Turkic 16 4
02 Çakır grey-blue (of eyes) Turkic 24 5
03 Aktaş white stone Turkic 30 5
04 Abanoz ebony Persian – 6
05 Ağar it rises; it dawns Turkic – 4
06 Ağca whitish, pale Turkic – 4
07 Ağgül white rose Persian – 5
08 Ak white; pure Turkic – 2
09 Akad clean name; white horse; Akkad Turkic – 4
10 Akalan white clearing Turkic – 6
11 Akalın honourable, “white-browed” Turkic – 6
12 Akat white horse Turkic – 4
13 Akata venerable ancestor Turkic – 5
14 Akatlı rider on a white horse Turkic – 6
15 Akay white, bright moon Turkic – 4
16 Akaydın white and bright Turkic – 7
17 Akbağ white bond, or white vineyard Turkic – 5
18 Akbal white honey Turkic – 5
19 Akbaş white-headed Turkic – 5
20 Akbaşlı white-headed Turkic – 7
21 Akbaşoğulları sons of Akbaş (‘white head’) Turkic – 13
22 Akbay pure and noble man Turkic – 5
23 Akbayır white slope Turkic – 7
24 Akbayrak white banner Turkic – 8
25 Akbayram bright festival Persian – 8
26 Akbaytogan white, wealthy falcon Turkic – 10
27 Akbıyık white moustache Turkic – 7
28 Akbudak white branch Turkic – 7
29 Akbulut white cloud Turkic – 7
30 Akcan white dear, pure soul Persian – 5
31 Akça whitish; silver coin Turkic – 4
32 Akçakaya whitish rock Turkic – 8
33 Akçakın white spark, or white raid Turkic – 7
34 Akçal white-speckled; white rocky hill Turkic – 5
35 Akçalı moneyed; whitish Turkic – 6
36 Akçam white pine Turkic – 5
37 Akçaoğlu son of Akça Turkic – 8
38 Akçatepe the pale hill Turkic – 8
39 Akçay white stream Turkic – 5
40 Akçelik bright steel Turkic – 7
41 Akçıl whitish, faded Turkic – 5
42 Akçiçek white flower Turkic – 7
43 Akçura benevolent spirit Turkic – 6
44 Akdağ white mountain Turkic – 5
45 Akdaş white stone Turkic – 5
46 Akdemir bright iron Turkic – 7
47 Akdeniz the Mediterranean Turkic – 7
48 Akdik pure and upright Turkic – 5
49 Akdoğan white falcon; born pure Turkic – 7
50 Akduman white mist Turkic – 7
51 Akdur stay pure Turkic – 5
52 Akdülger ak + carpenter Persian – 8
53 Aker white hero, honest man Turkic – 4
54 Akgöl white lake Turkic – 5
55 Akgöz white eye Turkic – 5
56 Akgül white rose Persian – 5
57 Akgün bright, happy day Turkic – 5
58 Akgündüz bright daytime Turkic – 8
59 Akhan white lord Turkic – 5
60 Akışık white light, clear radiance Turkic – 6
61 Akkale white castle Arabic – 6
62 Akkan of pure lineage; white khan Turkic – 5
63 Akkanat white wing Turkic – 7
64 Akkaş white-browed Turkic – 5
65 Akkaya white rock Turkic – 6
66 Akkaynak clear spring Turkic – 8
67 Akkılıç gleaming sword Turkic – 7
68 Akkiraz white cherry Greek – 7
69 Akkoç white ram Turkic – 5
70 Akkor white-hot Turkic – 5
71 Akkoyun white sheep Turkic – 7
72 Akkoyunlu of the white sheep; historical name Turkic – 9
73 Akkurt white wolf Turkic – 6
74 Akkuş white bird Turkic – 5
75 Akkuzu white lamb Turkic – 6
76 Akman pure, unspoilt Turkic – 5
77 Akmen white, pure Turkic – 5
78 Akoğlu son of Ak Turkic – 6
79 Akova white plain, bright lowland Turkic – 5
80 Aköz pure at heart Turkic – 4
81 Akpınar white spring, clear source Turkic – 7
82 Akpolat bright steel Persian – 7
83 Aksakal village elder; white-bearded Turkic – 7
84 Aksakallı white-bearded Turkic – 9
85 Aksoy of clean lineage Turkic – 5
86 Aksöz honest word Turkic – 5
87 Aksu clear water, white water Turkic – 4
88 Aksungur white gyrfalcon Turkic – 8
89 Akşan spotless renown Arabic – 5
90 Akşener pure, cheerful man Turkic – 7
91 Akşin fair-skinned, pale Turkic – 5
92 Aktan white dawn, first light Turkic – 5
93 Aktay white colt Turkic – 5
94 Aktekin white prince Turkic – 7
95 Aktepe white hill Turkic – 6
96 Aktuğ white horsetail standard Turkic – 5
Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.4

Common questions

Did colours mark directions in Old Turkic?

Some scholars think so and others question it; the matter is disputed. Which sense a colour has in a given surname cannot be stated without a source.

Is the surname Akın related to ak, white?

No. Akın has nothing to do with the colour ak and is not a colour surname.

How common is the surname Kara?

In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Kara ranks 16th nationally with 290,024 bearers.

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 Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
  4. 4Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)