Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Surname Law·No. 2525·1934

RG 2741 · 2.7.1934

A surname for every family

Until 1934 surnames were not compulsory in Türkiye. Surname Law No. 2525 required every citizen to carry one, and the Regulation issued at the end of the same year set out how to choose it and what was forbidden. This section explains the law, its rules and today’s legal position from the official texts.1,4

How did the law come into effect?

1934–1935 JunJulAugSeptOctNovDecJan 1935Feb 21 June 1934Surname Law adoptedLaw No. 2525 2 July 1934Published in the Official GazetteGazette 2741 24 November 1934The surname “Atatürk” conferredLaw No. 2587 26 November 1934Honorifics and titles abolishedLaw No. 2590 24 December 1934Surname Regulation approvedDecree 2/1759 2 January 1935Surname registration beginsMadde 53 1926–2026 192619341950197520012026 Surname legislation (1934–35) 2001Turkish Civil CodeLaw No. 4721 2006Population Services LawLaw No. 5490
Dates from the texts of the laws in the Official Gazette and the Legislation Information System.

Articles in this section

  1. 01The 1934 Surname Law (Law No. 2525): what it requiredLaw No. 2525 was passed on 21 June 1934 and took effect on 2 January 1935. What its fifteen articles said, who chose the name, and what happened to latecomers.
  2. 02The Surname Regulation of 1934: the rules, article by articleApproved on 24 December 1934, the Surname Regulation set the Turkish-language rule, the bans and the registration steps. The 1934 text and what is left today.
  3. 03Which surnames were banned in 1934, and why?Ranks, tribes, foreign nations, ridiculous names: the bans in the Surname Law and Regulation, what the texts say about why, and the famous list of endings.
  4. 041935–1936: how surnames were chosen and registeredThe village head’s surname book, the household head’s signature, the 2 July 1936 deadline: how the 1934 regulation had surnames recorded in villages and towns.
  5. 05Atatürk, İnönü and other surnames given in 1934Atatürk got his surname by Law No. 2587, and Law No. 2622 barred anyone else from using it. İnönü, Altay, Bozok and other surnames Atatürk gave to associates.
  6. 06Law No. 2590: the end of efendi, bey and paşaLaw No. 2590 of 26 November 1934 abolished titles such as ağa, hacı, hoca, efendi, bey and paşa. What its five articles said and how they relate to surnames.
  7. 07Surname Law timeline: from 1926 to todayFrom the 1926 Civil Code to the Surname Law, the 2 July 1936 deadline and the 2024 changes: key dates in Turkish surname law, each with its gazette source.
  8. 08How to change a surname in Türkiye: the rules todayA surname change in Türkiye usually needs a court order. Civil Code Art. 27, Law No. 5490, the 2017 and 2019 windows, married women’s names and the 2024 change.

What do the official texts say?

Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)

21 June 1934 · RG 2741 (2 July 1934)1

  • Madde 1Every Turk must carry a surname in addition to their given name.
  • Madde 2In speech, writing and signatures the given name comes first and the surname last.
  • Madde 3Banned as surnames: names of military ranks and civil offices, names of tribes, names of foreign races and nations, and names that offend public decency or are disgusting or ridiculous.
  • Madde 5An adult of sound mind is free to choose their surname.

Kemal Öz Adlı Cümhur Reisimize Verilen Soy Adı Hakkında Kanun (Kanun No. 2587)

24 November 1934 · RG 2865 (27 November 1934)2

  • Madde 1The surname ATATÜRK was given to the President whose given name is Kemal.
  • Madde 2The law took effect on publication.

Efendi, Bey, Paşa gibi Lakap ve Unvanların Kaldırılmasına Dair Kanun (Kanun No. 2590)

26 November 1934 · RG 2867 (29 November 1934)3

  • Madde 1Abolished the titles and honorifics Ağa, Hacı, Hafız, Hoca, Molla, Efendi, Bey, Beyefendi, Paşa, Hanım, Hanımefendi and Hazretleri; before the law and in official documents citizens are referred to by their names only.
  • Madde 2Civil ranks and official decorations were abolished (war medals excepted).
  • Madde 3Military ranks placed before the name became Mareşal, General and Amiral.

Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)

24 December 1934 · RG 2891 (27 December 1934)4

  • Madde 53The regulation applied from 2 January 1935.
  • Madde 1 (1934 text)Original 1934 text: everyone without a surname had to choose one and have it entered in the population register and birth certificates by 2 July 1936.
  • Madde 29 (1934 text)Original 1934 text: for anyone who had not chosen a surname by 2 July 1936, the governor or district governor (or an official they appointed) chose one, and the person was obliged to use it.
  • Madde 5New surnames are taken from the Turkish language.

Türk Medeni Kanunu (Kanun No. 4721)

22 November 2001 · RG 24607 (8 December 2001)5

  • Madde 27/1A change of name (ad) may be requested from a judge only on justified grounds.
  • Madde 27/2 (amended 14/11/2024, Kanun 7532 md. 12)Since Kanun 7532 (14/11/2024), a name change is entered in the civil register and announced on the Basın İlan Kurumu notice portal.
  • Madde 27/3-4A name change does not change personal status; anyone harmed may sue to overturn it within one year of learning of it.
  • Madde 173On divorce a woman takes back her pre-marriage surname; a judge may let her keep her former husband's surname if she has an interest in it and it does him no harm.

Nüfus Hizmetleri Kanunu (Kanun No. 5490)

25 April 2006 · RG 26153 (29 April 2006)6

  • Madde 35/1No entry in the population register may be corrected without a final court judgment, except clerical errors, which the registry office corrects against the source document.
  • Madde 36/1-a, 36/1-bCorrection suits are filed at the civil court of first instance of the place of residence; on justified grounds a further correction on the same matter may be requested, and a surname change is extended to the spouse and minor children.
  • Ek Madde 3 (added 19/10/2017, Kanun 7039 md. 25)Since Kanun 7039 (2017), on written request the registry office lets a divorced woman permitted to use her ex-husband's surname return to her pre-marriage surname, and lets a woman using a double surname drop her previous one.
  • Geçici Madde 8Temporary article 8 (Kanun 7039, accepted 19/10/2017, Resmî Gazete 3/11/2017 no. 30229): for two years, surnames contrary to Article 3 of the Surname Law, and names/surnames whose meaning was altered by spelling errors or missing diacritics, could be changed once without a court order by decision of the provincial or district administrative board.

Sources

  1. 1T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
  2. 2T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Kemal Öz Adlı Cümhur Reisimize Verilen Soy Adı Hakkında Kanun (Kanun No. 2587)
  3. 3T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Efendi, Bey, Paşa gibi Lakap ve Unvanların Kaldırılmasına Dair Kanun (Kanun No. 2590)
  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), Türk Medeni Kanunu (Kanun No. 4721)
  6. 6T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Nüfus Hizmetleri Kanunu (Kanun No. 5490)