Category group·124 surnames
Metals and objects
- Surnames
- 124
- in this dictionary
- Most common
- Demir
How did these surnames come about?
Two of the five most common surnames in Türkiye are metals. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Demir ranks 3rd with 876,934 bearers. Çelik ranks 4th on the same list, with 717,655. Not a hill, not a bird, but a metal: this shows how much the surname stock leans on ideas of hardness and endurance.
Two subgroups
The group has two hubs.
Metals and gemstones. Metals such as demir (iron), çelik (steel), bakır (copper), tunç (bronze), altın (gold) and gümüş (silver), and stones such as elmas (diamond), yakut (ruby) and mermer (marble). Demir is attested in Old Turkic as temür and has long been an element of Turkic personal names. Polat comes from Persian pūlād, “steel”; in TÜİK ADNKS 2025 Polat ranks 19th with 273,871 bearers.
Tools and objects. Everyday implements such as balta (axe), keser (adze), çekiç (hammer), örs (anvil), kazan (cauldron), kepçe (ladle), çadır (tent) and kement (lasso). Weapons are kept in a separate hub under war and heroism.
How they are built
Metal words appear alone or as the first or last part of a compound. In Özdemir “pure, true iron” and Karademir “black iron”, demir is the head, so the surname sits in the metals hub. In Demirtaş or Demirkan, demir comes first; the final word decides the hub, and the demir element is also recorded on its affix page.
There is one more distinction. Forms in -CI, such as Demirci, Bakırcı and Kazancı, name the person who works or sells the material, not the material itself. They belong to the occupational surnames. What stays in this group is the substance or the object.
The 1934 setting
The Surname Law was adopted in June 1934, and the details of its application were set out in the Surname Regulation of December that year. The law listed the banned kinds of name, and neither metals nor tools were among them. Why a family chose iron or an axe, the records do not say.
Why it is interesting
Metal and object surnames sit where the concrete meets the figurative. Demir is a metal and an image of endurance. Örs is a smith's tool and a figure for something that takes blow after blow. That double reading helps explain why the group is so large.
Which categories make up this group?
- Metals and gemstones170 surnames
Surnames from metal names such as iron, steel, copper, bronze, gold and silver, and from precious or worked stones such as diamond, ruby, emerald and marble. Demir and Çelik, conveying hardness and endurance, rank among the most common surnames and head many compounds like Özdemir and Aydemir.
- Tools and objects72 surnames
Surnames from everyday tools and objects: axe, adze, hammer, anvil, cauldron, ladle, tent and lasso. Many may carry traces of an older nickname or craft link; such a link is described only when documented. Weapons have their own hub.
Which of them are most common?
All surnames in this group
| # | Surname | Meaning | Origin | Rank | Letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Demir | iron; strong, steadfast | Turkic | 3 | 5 |
| 02 | Çelik | steel; tough, resilient | Turkic | 4 | 5 |
| 03 | Özdemir | pure iron; firm as iron | Turkic | 10 | 7 |
| 04 | Polat | steel; strong as steel | Persian | 19 | 5 |
| 05 | Abak | effigy, or abacus | – | 4 | |
| 06 | Akçelik | bright steel | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 07 | Akdemir | bright iron | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 08 | Akpolat | bright steel | Persian | – | 7 |
| 09 | Aktunç | white bronze | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 10 | Alçelik | red steel | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 11 | Aldemir | red iron | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 12 | Almas | diamond | Persian | – | 5 |
| 13 | Altın | gold; precious | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 14 | Altınçekiç | golden hammer | Persian | – | 10 |
| 15 | Altınörs | golden anvil | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 16 | Altınöz | golden at heart | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 17 | Altıntop | golden ball | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 18 | Altun | gold | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 19 | Altuna | gold | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 20 | Altunbay | rich in gold | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 21 | Altunoluk | golden gutter | Turkic | – | 9 |
| 22 | Ayar | fineness (of gold); measure | Arabic | – | 4 |
| 23 | Ayna | mirror | Persian | – | 4 |
| 24 | Bakır | copper | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 25 | Balta | axe | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 26 | Baydemir | rich, strong iron | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 27 | Bolat | steel | Persian | – | 5 |
| 28 | Boncuk | bead | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 29 | Bozdemir | grey iron | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 30 | Bulat | steel | Persian | – | 5 |
| 31 | Canbolat | steel-souled | Persian | – | 8 |
| 32 | Canbulat | steel soul | Persian | – | 8 |
| 33 | Candemir | iron-souled, enduring | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 34 | Canpolat | soul of steel | Persian | – | 8 |
| 35 | Cevahir | jewels, gems | Arabic | – | 7 |
| 36 | Cevher | jewel, gem; essence | Arabic | – | 6 |
| 37 | Çakı | pocket knife | – | 4 | |
| 38 | Çakmak | lighter; flint | Turkic | – | 6 |
| 39 | Çakmakoğlu | son of Çakmak | Turkic | – | 10 |
| 40 | Çanak | earthenware bowl | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 41 | Çapa | hoe | Turkic | – | 4 |
| 42 | Çatal | fork | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 43 | Çekiç | hammer | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 44 | Çelen | eaves | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 45 | Çelikay | bright as steel | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 46 | Çelikler | the Çelik family; steels | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 47 | Çelikten | of steel | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 48 | Çengel | hook | Persian | – | 6 |
| 49 | Daşdemir | firm as stone and iron | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 50 | Demirağ | iron net, railway network | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 51 | Demiral | red-hot iron | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 52 | Demirbağ | iron bond | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 53 | Demirbaş | fixture; permanent figure | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 54 | Demiriş | ironwork | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 55 | Demirli | with iron; anchored | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 56 | Demirörs | iron anvil | Turkic | – | 8 |
| 57 | Demiröz | iron at the core | Turkic | – | 7 |
| 58 | Dibek | large stone mortar | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 59 | Dikeç | vine-planting bar; stake | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 60 | Direk | pillar, mast | Turkic | – | 5 |
| 61 | Doğandemir | falcon / born + iron | Turkic | – | 10 |
| 62 | Elmas | diamond | Arabic | – | 5 |
Common questions
- How common are Demir and Çelik?
In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Demir ranks 3rd with 876,934 bearers. Çelik ranks 4th on the same list, with 717,655.
- Why is Demirci not in this group?
Demirci, with the suffix -CI, means “ironworker, smith” and is an occupational surname. This group covers the material itself.
- Which hub does Demirtaş go to?
In compounds the final word decides. The head of Demirtaş is taş, so it sits with the rock and stone names.
Sources
- 1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
- 2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
- 3T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
- 4T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
- 5Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)