Province·Eastern Anatolia Region·Code 36
TÜİK · ADNKS 2025The most common surnames in Kars
The most common surname in Kars is Kaya (6,129 people, 2025). Yılmaz, first nationally, is 5th in Kars. Aydın is second with 5,608. Kaya has led Kars every year since 2018.1
- First place
- Kaya
- Surnames listed
- 301
The 30 most common surnames in Kars, 2025
| Rank | Surname | People | Per 1,000 | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Kaya | 6,129 | 22.8 | 2 |
| 02 | Aydın | 5,608 | 20.8 | 9 |
| 03 | Yıldız | 5,191 | 19.3 | 5 |
| 04 | Çelik | 3,777 | 14.0 | 4 |
| 05 | Yılmaz | 3,597 | 13.4 | 1 |
| 06 | Yıldırım | 3,419 | 12.7 | 7 |
| 07 | Demir | 3,072 | 11.4 | 3 |
| 08 | Bulut | 2,127 | 7.9 | – |
| 09 | Polat | 2,117 | 7.9 | 19 |
| 10 | Aras | 2,116 | 7.9 | – |
| 11 | Öztürk | 2,091 | 7.8 | 8 |
| 12 | Güneş | 2,050 | 7.6 | 29 |
| 13 | Kılıç | 1,909 | 7.1 | 13 |
| 14 | Turan | 1,753 | 6.5 | – |
| 15 | Doğan | 1,678 | 6.2 | 12 |
| 16 | Aktaş | 1,543 | 5.7 | 30 |
| 17 | Altun | 1,515 | 5.6 | – |
| 18 | Aslan | 1,503 | 5.6 | 14 |
| 19 | Karadağ | 1,262 | 4.7 | – |
| 20 | Koç | 1,225 | 4.6 | 18 |
| 21 | Özdemir | 1,144 | 4.3 | 10 |
| 22 | Can | 1,129 | 4.2 | 27 |
| 23 | Taş | 1,109 | 4.1 | – |
| 24 | Ekinci | 1,002 | 3.7 | – |
| 25 | Gündüz | 958 | 3.6 | – |
| 26 | Oğul | 954 | 3.5 | – |
| 27 | Vargün | 936 | 3.5 | – |
| 28 | Erkmen | 932 | 3.5 | – |
| 29 | Arslan | 904 | 3.4 | 11 |
| 30 | Alkan | 878 | 3.3 | – |
How do these counts compare with Kars’s population?
With an ADNKS population of 268,991 in 2025, about 22.8 in every 1,000 people in Kars are called Kaya. The 30 listed surnames together cover 63,628 people, 23.7% of the population.1,2
Kars lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region. According to ADNKS its population fell by 6.9% between 2018 and 2025.2
| 2018 | 288,878 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 285,410 |
| 2020 | 284,923 |
| 2021 | 281,077 |
| 2022 | 274,829 |
| 2023 | 278,335 |
| 2024 | 272,300 |
| 2025 | 268,991 |
Which surname leads in the neighbouring provinces?
- AğrıAğrı: also Kaya, with 15,283 people in 2025, 2.5 times as many as in Kars.
- ArdahanArdahan: Yılmaz leads (2,990 people); Kaya, first in Kars, ranks 4th there with 1,688.
- ErzurumErzurum: Yılmaz leads (10,589 people); Kaya, first in Kars, ranks 2nd there with 10,367.
- IğdırIğdır: Aras leads (2,795 people); Kaya, first in Kars, ranks 2nd there with 2,776.
Neighbours: land borders derived from Natural Earth boundaries.3
Has Kars’s top three changed over the years?
| Year | 1. | 2. | 3. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Kaya 6,299 | Aydın 5,891 | Yıldız 5,745 |
| 2019 | Kaya 6,274 | Aydın 5,883 | Yıldız 5,722 |
| 2020 | Kaya 6,275 | Aydın 5,892 | Yıldız 5,657 |
| 2021 | Kaya 6,170 | Aydın 5,842 | Yıldız 5,541 |
| 2022 | Kaya 6,170 | Aydın 5,736 | Yıldız 5,409 |
| 2023 | Kaya 6,168 | Aydın 5,707 | Yıldız 5,385 |
| 2024 | Kaya 6,155 | Aydın 5,654 | Yıldız 5,296 |
| 2025 | Kaya 6,129 | Aydın 5,608 | Yıldız 5,191 |
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