Province·Eastern Anatolia Region·Code 75
TÜİK · ADNKS 2025The most common surnames in Ardahan
As in Türkiye as a whole, the most common surname in Ardahan is Yılmaz: 2,990 people in 2025. Yıldız is second with 2,120. Yılmaz has led Ardahan every year since 2018.1
- First place
- Yılmaz
- Surnames listed
- 301
The 30 most common surnames in Ardahan, 2025
| Rank | Surname | People | Per 1,000 | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Yılmaz | 2,990 | 33.1 | 1 |
| 02 | Yıldız | 2,120 | 23.5 | 5 |
| 03 | Çelik | 1,875 | 20.7 | 4 |
| 04 | Kaya | 1,688 | 18.7 | 2 |
| 05 | Kılıç | 1,465 | 16.2 | 13 |
| 06 | Öztürk | 1,236 | 13.7 | 8 |
| 07 | Avşar | 1,072 | 11.9 | – |
| 08 | Demir | 1,067 | 11.8 | 3 |
| 09 | Aydın | 971 | 10.7 | 9 |
| 10 | Koç | 922 | 10.2 | 18 |
| 11 | Yıldırım | 881 | 9.7 | 7 |
| 12 | Gökçe | 860 | 9.5 | – |
| 13 | Aktaş | 787 | 8.7 | 30 |
| 14 | Morkoç | 715 | 7.9 | – |
| 15 | Demirci | 646 | 7.1 | – |
| 16 | Özer | 623 | 6.9 | – |
| 17 | Polat | 600 | 6.6 | 19 |
| 18 | Aydemir | 563 | 6.2 | – |
| 19 | Bozkurt | 531 | 5.9 | – |
| 20 | Özdemir | 490 | 5.4 | 10 |
| 21 | Çoban | 486 | 5.4 | – |
| 22 | Koçak | 475 | 5.3 | – |
| 23 | Işık | 467 | 5.2 | – |
| 24 | Aktürk | 466 | 5.2 | – |
| 25 | Karataş | 460 | 5.1 | – |
| 26 | Karadağ | 418 | 4.6 | – |
| 27 | Altun | 410 | 4.5 | – |
| 28 | Bulut | 409 | 4.5 | – |
| 29 | Ateş | 382 | 4.2 | – |
| 30 | Karakoç | 377 | 4.2 | – |
How do these counts compare with Ardahan’s population?
With an ADNKS population of 90,392 in 2025, about 33.1 in every 1,000 people in Ardahan are called Yılmaz. The 30 listed surnames together cover 26,452 people, 29.3% of the population.1,2
Ardahan lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region. According to ADNKS its population fell by 8.6% between 2018 and 2025.2
| 2018 | 98,907 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 97,319 |
| 2020 | 96,161 |
| 2021 | 94,932 |
| 2022 | 92,481 |
| 2023 | 92,819 |
| 2024 | 91,354 |
| 2025 | 90,392 |
Which surname leads in the neighbouring provinces?
- ArtvinArtvin: also Yılmaz, with 4,504 people in 2025, 1.5 times as many as in Ardahan.
- ErzurumErzurum: also Yılmaz, with 10,589 people in 2025, 3.5 times as many as in Ardahan.
- KarsKars: Kaya leads (6,129 people); Yılmaz, first in Ardahan, ranks 5th there with 3,597.
Neighbours: land borders derived from Natural Earth boundaries.3
Has Ardahan’s top three changed over the years?
| Year | 1. | 2. | 3. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Yılmaz 3,131 | Yıldız 2,434 | Çelik 2,124 |
| 2019 | Yılmaz 3,049 | Yıldız 2,374 | Çelik 2,059 |
| 2020 | Yılmaz 3,087 | Yıldız 2,384 | Çelik 2,055 |
| 2021 | Yılmaz 3,053 | Yıldız 2,337 | Çelik 2,042 |
| 2022 | Yılmaz 3,013 | Yıldız 2,284 | Çelik 1,989 |
| 2023 | Yılmaz 3,049 | Yıldız 2,237 | Çelik 1,960 |
| 2024 | Yılmaz 2,999 | Yıldız 2,164 | Çelik 1,934 |
| 2025 | Yılmaz 2,990 | Yıldız 2,120 | Çelik 1,875 |
Sources
- 1Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)
- 2Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK ADNKS: Cinsiyete göre nüfus, Türkiye ve 81 il
- 3Natural Earth, Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries