Category group·905 surnames
Lineage, place and name patterns
- Surnames
- 905
- in this dictionary
- Most common
- Özkan
How did these surnames come about?
Most surname categories on this site are sorted by meaning: trades, animals, colours. The ones gathered here are sorted by shape. Hasanoğlu, Konyalı and Aksoy tell you first how they were built, and only then what they mean. A suffix, a place name, a tribal name or an old name element does the work.
Eight patterns
Patronymics in -oğlu. Hasanoğlu and Osmanoğlu add oğlu 'his son' to a personal name. The Surname Regulation of December 1934 states in Md. 6 that a surname may be used alone or together with “(oğlu)”.
Place names with -lı/-li. Konyalı, Trabzonlu and Giritli join a place name to a suffix meaning 'from'.
Bare place names. Toros, Fırat and Erciyes carry the name of a mountain, river or region with no suffix at all.
Oghuz and other historical tribal names. Kayı, Bayat and Avşar are tribal names recorded in medieval sources. The hub treats them as historical words, nothing more.
Old Turkic name elements. Ayhan, Alper and Erol combine elements such as ay 'moon', alp 'hero' and er 'man, warrior'. Most are also given names.
Period compounds. Akyol, Gürses and Özbay join evaluative elements into forms that are neither dictionary words nor common given names. The label describes a structure. Saying that one particular name was coined in 1934 needs a source.
Lineage words. Soylu, Aksoy and Ersoy contain soy 'lineage'. In Özkan and similar names the second element is usually read as kan 'blood', though a link to han/kağan is also discussed for some of them.
Historical and epic names. Alparslan, Timur and Korkut repeat the names of rulers and epic heroes.
Where shape meets meaning
One surname can fit several patterns. Demircioğlu has -oğlu but names a trade, so it is filed under crafts, with the patronymic as a secondary tag. Kınık is both an Oghuz tribal name and a modern place name. The group works as a map beside the meaning-based categories.
The 1934 rules shaped these patterns too. Article 3 of Law No. 2525 banned tribal names as surnames. The Regulation's Md. 8 excluded names implying membership of a tribe or clan, and Md. 11 refused names that suggest a link to famous historical figures unless official records proved it. These rules concerned word forms. Names such as Kayı, Avşar and Timur still appear in today's registers.
One caution covers the whole group. None of these names says where a bearer comes from, which community they belong to or who their ancestors were. Konyalı is a word about Konya, not a statement about a family.
Which categories make up this group?
- Patronymic -oğlu surnames424 surnames
Surnames formed by adding -oğlu ('son of') to a personal name: Hasanoğlu, Osmanoğlu, Mustafaoğlu, Yusufoğlu and the like. Before 1934 this was a common way of referring to a family by an ancestor's name, and many families made the form official under the Surname Law. When the base is an occupation, title or nickname, the primary category follows that meaning instead.
- Place-based -lı/-li surnames75 surnames
Surnames formed by adding -lı/-li/-lu/-lü to the name of a province, district, village or region, meaning 'from that place': Trabzonlu, Konyalı, Erzurumlu, Bursalı, Giritli and so on. They show that the word derives from a place name; they say nothing about where today's bearers come from or which community they belong to.
- Names of mountains, rivers and places221 surnames
Surnames that use the proper name of a specific mountain, river, lake, region or settlement without a suffix: Toros, Erciyes, Ilgaz, Uludağ, Fırat, Aras, Sakarya, Altay and others. The reason for the choice is usually not known, and a link between a family and the place is made only with documentation.
- Oghuz and historical Turkic tribe names45 surnames
Surnames from the names of the Oghuz tribes recorded in the lists of Mahmud al-Kashgari and Rashid al-Din, such as Kayı, Bayat, Avşar/Afşar, Kınık, Salur, Bayındır, Eymür, Döğer and Çepni, and from other historical Turkic tribal names such as Kıpçak, Peçenek and Karluk. They show that a tribal name lives on as a historical word; they do not mean that bearers descend from that tribe.
- Built from Turkic name elements324 surnames
Surnames built by combining elements common in old Turkic personal names, such as er, alp, ay, gün, tuğ, bay, kut, han, kan, tekin and tay, which are also used as given names: Ayhan, Erhan, Alper, Alpay, Erol, Tuncay, Baykal, Oğuzhan and so on. Their meaning is usually the sum of the elements and needs interpretation.
- Compounds coined in 193478 surnames
Surnames from the period of the Surname Law built by joining evaluative elements such as Öz-, Ak-, Gök-, Gür-, Ün- and Yüce- with elements such as -soy, -kan, -er, -el, -men and -ay, which are neither dictionary words nor common given names: Akyol, Gürses, Özbay, Ünver and similar. The category describes the structure; that a particular surname was coined precisely in 1934 is stated only with a source.
- Lineage, blood and origin words77 surnames
Surnames containing words for family and origin, such as soy (lineage), kan (blood), kök (root), boy (clan) and nesil (generation): Soylu, Soysal, Aksoy, Ersoy, Gürsoy, Ulusoy and similar. The element -soy was one of the most favoured endings in 1934. These words say nothing about the bearers' descent, and it is noted that -kan in some names may relate to han/kağan rather than 'blood'.
- Historical and legendary names111 surnames
Surnames from the names of historical rulers, commanders or epic heroes, such as Alparslan, Atilla, Timur, Cengiz, Oğuz, Mete, Korkut, Battal and Köroğlu. The record shows the link between the name and the historical figure with a source and never claims that the family is related to that figure.
Which of them are most common?
All surnames in this group
| # | Surname | Meaning | Origin | Rank | Letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Özkan | of pure blood, of good stock | Turkic | 22 | 5 |
| 02 | Özcan | pure soul; dear to the heart | Persian | 25 | 5 |
| 03 | Erdoğan | warrior falcon; born a hero | Turkic | 26 | 7 |
| 04 | Abbas | stern-looking; lion (given name) | Arabic | – | 5 |
| 05 | Abbasoğlu | son of Abbas | Arabic | – | 9 |
| 06 | Abdioğlu | son of Abdi | Arabic | – | 8 |
| 07 | Abdullah | servant of God (male name) | Arabic | – | 8 |
| 08 | Acarbay | bold lord | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 09 | Acemoğlu | son of Acem | Arabic | – | 8 |
| 10 | Acemyan | Acem + -yan (family suffix) | Arabic | – | 7 |
| 11 | Acer | a form of the name Hacer | Arabic | – | 4 |
| 12 | Acuner | man of the world | Other | – | 6 |
| 13 | Adal | take a name, win renown | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 14 | Ademoğlu | human being; son of Adam | Arabic | – | 8 |
| 15 | Adıgüzel | whose name is beautiful | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 16 | Adıyaman | from Adıyaman (province) | – | 8 | |
| 17 | Adiloğlu | son of Adil | Arabic | – | 8 |
| 18 | Adnan | male name; “settler” | Arabic | – | 5 |
| 19 | Afşar | Oghuz tribal name; nimble | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 20 | Ahıskalı | from Ahıska | Other | – | 8 |
| 21 | Ahmed | most praised | Arabic | – | 5 |
| 22 | Ahmet | most praised | Arabic | – | 5 |
| 23 | Ahmetoğlu | son of Ahmet | Arabic | – | 9 |
| 24 | Akad | clean name; white horse; Akkad | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 25 | Akbal | white honey | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 26 | Akbar | greatest | Arabic | – | 5 |
| 27 | Akbay | pure and noble man | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 28 | Akçaoğlu | son of Akça | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 29 | Akçura | benevolent spirit | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 30 | Akdeniz | the Mediterranean | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 31 | Akel | clean hand; bright land | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 32 | Aker | white hero, honest man | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 33 | Akhan | white lord | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 34 | Akkan | of pure lineage; white khan | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 35 | Akkerman | White Fortress (the city of Akkerman) | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 36 | Akkoyunlu | of the white sheep; historical name | Turkic | – | 9 |
| 37 | Aköz | pure at heart | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 38 | Akseki | district in Antalya | – | 6 | |
| 39 | Aksel | new name echoing Axel | French | – | 5 |
| 40 | Aksoy | of clean lineage | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 41 | Akşit | ruler (the Sogdian title Ikhshid) | Other | – | 5 |
| 42 | Aktan | white dawn, first light | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 43 | Aktekin | white prince | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 44 | Aktuna | white + Tuna (Tunga) | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 45 | Akyazı | white plain; district of Sakarya | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 46 | Aladağ | mottled mountain | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 47 | Alanyalı | from Alanya | Other | – | 8 |
| 48 | Alasya | Alashiya, ancient name of Cyprus | – | 6 | |
| 49 | Alaş | legendary Kazakh ancestor | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 50 | Algan | one who takes, conqueror | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 51 | Ali | exalted; male name | Arabic | – | 3 |
| 52 | Alican | dear Ali | Persian | – | 6 |
| 53 | Alimoğlu | son of Alim | Arabic | – | 8 |
| 54 | Alişan | glorious Ali (given name) | Arabic | – | 6 |
| 55 | Alkan | red blood | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 56 | Alpar | short form of Alper Tunga | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 57 | Alparslan | heroic lion | Turkic | – | 9 |
| 58 | Alpaslan | lion-hearted hero | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 59 | Alpay | radiant hero | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 60 | Alpaydın | brave and radiant | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 61 | Alpaykut | heroic and blessed as the moon | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 62 | Alpdoğan | born brave | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 63 | Alper | valiant man, hero | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 64 | Alphan | valiant ruler | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 65 | Alpman | hero-like, valiant | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 66 | Alpsoy | heroic lineage | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 67 | Alptekin | heroic prince | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 68 | Alptemoçin | brave ironsmith; alp + Temüjin | Mongolic | – | 10 |
| 69 | Altan | golden; red dawn | Mongolic | – | 5 |
| 70 | Altay | the Altai mountains; given name | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 71 | Altaylı | from the Altai | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 72 | Altınay | golden moon | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 73 | Altındağ | golden mountain; a district of Ankara | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 74 | Altıner | golden hero | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 75 | Altınoluk | town in Edremit | Turkic | – | 9 |
| 76 | Altınordu | the Golden Horde | Turkic | – | 9 |
| 77 | Altınova | golden plain; a district of Yalova | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 78 | Altınsoy | golden lineage | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 79 | Altuğ | red horse-tail standard | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 80 | Altunay | golden moon | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 81 | Amasyalı | from Amasya | Greek | – | 8 |
| 82 | Anadol | short form of Anadolu (Anatolia) | Greek | – | 6 |
| 83 | Ankaralı | from Ankara | Greek | – | 8 |
| 84 | Antalyalı | from Antalya | Greek | – | 9 |
| 85 | Arabul | seek and find | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 86 | Araç | the district of Araç (Kastamonu) | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 87 | Ararat | Mount Ararat | Armenian | – | 6 |
| 88 | Aras | the Aras river | Other | – | 4 |
| 89 | Araz | the river Aras | Persian | – | 4 |
| 90 | Arcasoy | pure lineage | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 91 | Arda | Arda River; marker stake | Other | – | 4 |
Common questions
- How are the categories in this group divided?
By shape rather than meaning: -oğlu, -lı/-li, bare place names, tribal names, old Turkic name elements, period compounds, lineage words and historical names.
- Why is Demircioğlu filed under occupations and not here?
Because the meaning rests on demirci 'blacksmith'. The main category follows the meaning, and -oğlu stays as a secondary tag.
- Does a surname like Konyalı or Kayı say anything about my origins?
No. These surnames carry a place or tribal name as a word. They say nothing about a bearer's birthplace, ancestors or community.
Sources
- 1T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
- 2T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
- 3Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
- 4Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
- 5Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)