Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Category·Lineage, place and name patterns·148 surnames

Historical and legendary names

Surnames
148
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
15
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Yavuz
People
236,3175
Yavuz

How did these surnames come about?

Two texts from 1934 deal directly with famous names. Article 6 of the Surname Law (Kanun No. 2525) let the public prosecutor ask a court to stop the use of names implying a link to famous historical figures. The Soyadı Nizamnamesi went a step further (Md. 11): such names could not be used or newly given unless the link was proven by official records or documents. The target was a claim of kinship, not a hero's name as such. This hub collects surnames identical to the names of historical rulers, commanders and epic heroes, and reads them in that spirit. The link runs between the name and the figure, never between the figure and the family that carries the surname today.

Rulers

  • Alparslan: alp 'hero' + arslan 'lion', 'hero-lion'. The name of the Seljuk sultan who won at Malazgirt (Manzikert). Alpaslan is a spelling variant.
  • Kılıçarslan: kılıç 'sword' + arslan, the name of several Seljuk sultans of Anatolia.
  • Timur: from Turkic temür 'iron'. Best known as the name of the fourteenth-century conqueror Timur.
  • Cengiz: the Turkish form of the title in Chinggis Khan. The origin of the title is debated: one view links it to a word for 'sea, ocean', another to a word for 'strong, hard'.
  • Atilla: the Turkish spelling commonly identified with Attila, ruler of the Huns. The origin of Attila's own name is debated: one view sees a Gothic pet form meaning 'little father', another proposes a Turkic derivation.
  • Mete: the modern Turkish reading of the name of the Xiongnu ruler recorded in Chinese sources as Modu. How the Chinese transcription should be read is debated, and Mete is one reading among several.

Epic heroes

  • Oğuz: the name of the legendary ancestor in the Oğuz Kağan narratives, and of the Oghuz. The meaning of the word is debated.
  • Korkut: Dede Korkut, the wise elder of the Book of Dede Korkut. As a word, korkut is the imperative of korkutmak 'to frighten'.
  • Battal: Battal Gazi, hero of a frontier epic. The word comes from Arabic baṭṭāl 'brave, champion'.
  • Köroğlu: the outlaw hero of the folk epic. Word for word it is kör 'blind' + oğlu 'son of'; in the story his father was blinded. That is the epic's own explanation of the hero's name, not a fact about any family.

How the names arrived

Most of these were given names before they were surnames, and many still are. A family could take a grandfather's name, or a name admired at the time, as its surname; the Nizamname allowed a surname alone or with “(oğlu)” (Md. 6). Some of the names are Turkic, Cengiz is Mongolic, Battal is Arabic. Here, as everywhere, linguistic origin says nothing about ancestry.

What makes them interesting

These surnames sit where the law drew a fine line. A name like Alparslan honours a figure. A name that claimed descent from him needed documents. The pages in this hub keep to that line: each figure is identified with a source, and no page says that a family is related to the person whose name it carries. Nor do we try to explain how individual names were judged at the time.

Sources1,2,3,4

All surnames in this category

#SurnameMeaningOriginRankLetters
01 Yavuz formidable, stern, resolute Turkic 23 5
02 Akşit ruler (the Sogdian title Ikhshid) Other – 5
03 Alaş legendary Kazakh ancestor Turkic – 4
04 Alpar short form of Alper Tunga Turkic – 5
05 Alparslan heroic lion Turkic – 9
06 Alpaslan lion-hearted hero Turkic – 8
07 Alptekin heroic prince Turkic – 8
08 Alptemoçin brave ironsmith; alp + Temüjin Mongolic – 10
09 Altınordu the Golden Horde Turkic – 9
10 Argun weasel; bold, dashing Turkic – 5
11 Arpad Árpád, the Magyar leader Other – 5
12 Asena the Göktürk clan Ashina; the legendary she-wolf Turkic – 5
13 Asutay beneficial, profitable Mongolic – 6
14 Aşina familiar, acquainted Persian – 5
15 Aşkar Battal Gazi’s horse – 5
16 Atılhan renowned lord Turkic – 7
17 Atilla name of the Hun ruler – 6
18 Atlıhan renowned lord Turkic – 7
19 Avar historical people’s name; man’s name – 4
20 Aybars moon-bright leopard Turkic – 6
21 Aykut blessing of the moon Turkic – 5
22 Azak Oghuz bey’s name; Azov Turkic – 4
23 Babür Babur (the Mughal founder); tiger Persian – 5
24 Balamir name of a Hun leader; robust – 7
25 Barbarosoğlu son of Barbaros French – 12
26 Battal name of the epic hero Battal Gazi Arabic – 6
27 Battalgazi Battal Gazi, epic hero Arabic – 10
28 Batu firm, strong; Batu Khan Mongolic – 4
29 Batuhan Batu Khan Turkic – 7
30 Bayazıt a form of the name Bayezid Arabic – 7
31 Baybars noble leopard Turkic – 7
32 Baydur name of a historical Mongol commander Mongolic – 6
33 Baykam noble shaman Turkic – 6
34 Baykara old Turkic name; Husayn Bayqara Turkic – 7
35 Belgütay Belgütei, Genghis Khan’s brother Mongolic – 8
36 Berke firm, strong; a Golden Horde khan Mongolic – 5
37 Beyazıt name of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid Persian – 7
38 Bilgehan wise ruler Turkic – 8
39 Buğra male camel Turkic – 5
40 Bumin Bumin Qaghan, Göktürk founder Turkic – 5
41 Candar palace guardsman (title) Persian – 6
42 Celayir the Jalayir tribe Mongolic – 7
43 Cem Jamshid, the legendary king Persian – 3
44 Cemgil the Cem family Persian – 6
45 Cengiz from the title Chinggis Khan Mongolic – 6
46 Cuci Jochi, son of Genghis; “guest” Mongolic – 4
47 Çağatay Chaghatai, son of Genghis Khan Mongolic – 7
48 Çağrı saker falcon; call, invitation Turkic – 5
49 Çaka name of Çaka Bey Turkic – 4
50 Çako form of Çeko, a hero in Mem û Zîn Kurdish – 4
51 Çora hero of the Çora Batır epic Turkic – 4
52 Danişmend scholar, learned man Persian – 9
53 Dündar rear guard Persian – 6
54 Eldeniz sea of the realm Turkic – 7
55 Ersümer er “hero” + Sumer Other – 7
56 Ertuğrul hero-falcon; name of Ertuğrul Gazi Turkic – 8
57 Ertuğruloğlu son of Ertuğrul Turkic – 12
58 Ertüngealp after Alp Er Tunga, “hero leopard” Turkic – 10
59 Farukî of Faruk (“who tells right from wrong”) Arabic – 6
60 Germiyanoğlu after the Germiyanid principality – 12
61 Giray title of the Crimean khans Mongolic – 5
62 Giraygil the Giray household Mongolic – 8
63 Göktürk name of the Göktürk dynasty Turkic – 7
64 Gültekin from Kül Tegin, Göktürk prince Turkic – 8
65 Güneri illuminating; old Turkish name Turkic – 6
66 Hülagü the Mongol ruler Hülegü Mongolic – 6
67 Hürmüz Hormuz Persian – 6
68 İlter short form of İlteriş Turkic – 5
69 İnönü in front of the cave; İnönü town Turkic – 5
70 İskender Alexander (given name) Greek – 8
71 İskenderoğlu son of İskender (Alexander) Arabic – 12
72 İskit Scythian Greek – 5
73 Jöntürk Young Turk Turkic – 7
74 Kansu the name Kanşav; Mamluk sultan Qansuh Other – 5
Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.5

Common questions

Does the surname Alparslan mean the family comes from the Seljuk sultan's line?

The surname says nothing of the kind. The link is between the name and the figure. The 1934 rules required official documents for names implying kinship (Nizamname Md. 11).

Where does the name Cengiz come from?

It is the Turkish form of the title in Chinggis Khan. The title's origin is debated: it is linked either to a word for 'sea, ocean' or to one for 'strong, hard'.

Does Köroğlu mean 'son of the blind man'?

Word for word, yes: kör + oğlu. In the epic the hero's father is blinded. That is the epic's explanation, not information about families with the surname.

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. 4T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
  5. 5Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)