Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Category·Society, kinship and values·112 surnames

Homeland, nation and ideals

Surnames
112
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
11
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Öztürk
People
586,8311
Öztürk

How did these surnames come about?

Öztürk is Türkiye's 8th most common surname according to TÜİK ADNKS 2025, carried by 586,831 people. Among the top ten, it is also the only name that contains the name of a community.

The name joins öz 'own; pure, genuine, true' and Türk, roughly 'a true Turk'. The same pattern gives Ertürk (er 'man, brave warrior' + Türk), Aktürk and Şentürk. This category gathers surnames whose head word is yurt 'homeland', ulus 'nation', ülkü 'ideal', önder 'leader', ileri 'forward' or Türk.

The 1934 setting

Article 5 of the Surname Regulation is blunt: “Yeni takılan soyadları Türk dilinden alınır”, new surnames are taken from the Turkish language. The years in which the law and the regulation were applied overlapped with intense debate about the language itself. Words such as ulus, ülkü and önder were everywhere in newspapers and books at the time, and they appear among the surnames people chose. This category describes the naming fashion of that period through its words. It says nothing about the views of anyone who carries these names.

A side note: Law No. 2587 of 24 November 1934 gave the surname ATATÜRK to President Kemal. Because it was granted by law, it is kept apart and left out of automatic lists of -türk names.

The examples

Yurtsever means 'one who loves the homeland': yurt plus the verb sev- 'to love' with the participle -er. TDK gives it as a synonym of vatansever 'patriot'.

Ulus appears in Old Turkic with senses such as 'people, country, realm'; the same word exists in Mongolic. Today it is the Turkish word for 'nation'.

Ülkü means 'ideal, a lofty aim'. Dictionaries usually connect it with Old Turkic ülgü 'measure, share'; the modern sense settled in the years of the language reform.

Önder means 'leader, guide' and is linked to ön 'front'.

Yurdakul reads 'servant to the homeland': yurt in the dative, yurda, plus kul 'servant'.

İleri is a plain word: 'forward, front', and figuratively 'advanced'.

Why it is interesting

These names preserve the vocabulary of a moment. A handful of words return in compound after compound: names ending in -türk, names starting with yurt-, names built around ulus and ülkü. Ulusoy, for example, pairs ulus with soy 'lineage'; it is filed under the lineage words, with this category as a secondary tag.

There is also a trap. Türkmen contains Türk, but as a historical group name it is treated on the Oghuz tribes page. Ulu and Yüce mean 'great, lofty' and go elsewhere. The rule is simple: the meaning of the word decides the category, not its sound.

Sources1,2,3,4,5

All surnames in this category

#SurnameMeaningOriginRankLetters
01 Öztürk true Turk, genuine Turk Turkic 8 6
02 Acartürk bold Turk Turkic – 8
03 Aktürk honest, upright Turk Turkic – 6
04 Aktürkoğlu son of Aktürk Turkic – 10
05 Akyurt white homeland Turkic – 6
06 Alptürk brave Turk Turkic – 7
07 Altınel golden land; golden hand Turkic – 7
08 Altıok six arrows Turkic – 6
09 Altunel golden land, golden realm Turkic – 7
10 Arıtürk pure Turk Turkic – 7
11 Arslantürk lion-like Turk Turkic – 10
12 Asiltürk noble Turk Turkic – 8
13 Aslantürk lion-like Turk Turkic – 9
14 Atamtürk my ancestor, a Turk Turkic – 8
15 Ataseven one who loves his forefathers Turkic – 8
16 Atasever who loves his ancestors Turkic – 8
17 Atatürk father of the Turks Turkic – 7
18 Ayyıldız crescent and star Turkic – 8
19 Baştürk leading Turk Turkic – 7
20 Bayrak flag, banner Turkic – 6
21 Birlik unity Turkic – 6
22 Cantürk Turk at heart Turkic – 7
23 Çelikyurt homeland of steel Turkic – 9
24 Demirağ iron net, railway network Turkic – 7
25 Devrim revolution, radical reform Turkic – 6
26 Elbir alliance, unity Turkic – 5
27 Erel land of heroes Turkic – 4
28 Ertürk valiant Turk Turkic – 6
29 Eryurt homeland of the brave Turkic – 6
30 Esentürk sound and well Turk Turkic – 8
31 Gençtürk young Turk Turkic – 8
32 Göktürk name of the Göktürk dynasty Turkic – 7
33 Gürel strong people; roaring Turkic – 5
34 Hepileri always forward Turkic – 8
35 Hürriyet freedom Arabic – 8
36 İleri forward, advanced Turkic – 5
37 İlgezdi he roamed the land Turkic – 7
38 Kamu the public; all Turkic – 4
39 Kent city Other – 4
40 Kocatürk great Turk Turkic – 8
41 Korutürk protector of the Turk Turkic – 8
42 Koyutürk true Turk Turkic – 8
43 Köktürk Göktürk, the Kök Türks Turkic – 7
44 Kuran founder, one who sets up Turkic – 5
45 Kurtuluş deliverance, liberation Turkic – 8
46 Kurucu founder Turkic – 6
47 Milli national Arabic – 5
48 Önal “take the lead” Turkic – 4
49 Önder leader, guide Turkic – 5
50 Özdil pure language, own tongue Turkic – 5
51 Özerk autonomous; own might Turkic – 5
52 Özgen free Turkic – 5
53 Özgür free Turkic – 5
54 Özgürgün free day Turkic – 8
55 Özil one’s own homeland Turkic – 4
56 Özker free, autonomous Turkic – 5
Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.1

Common questions

What does Öztürk mean and how common is it?

It joins öz 'pure, true' and Türk. Öztürk ranks 8th nationally in TÜİK ADNKS 2025, with 586,831 people.

Do these surnames say anything about the views of their bearers?

No. The page describes only the meaning of the words and the naming fashion around 1934.

Why is Atatürk kept apart?

The surname was given to President Kemal by Law No. 2587 of 24 November 1934, so it is left out of automatic lists of -türk names.

Sources

  1. 1Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)
  2. 2Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
  3. 3Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
  4. 4T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
  5. 5T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Kemal Öz Adlı Cümhur Reisimize Verilen Soy Adı Hakkında Kanun (Kanun No. 2587)