Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,129

Demirel

Demirel /demiˈɾel/

“iron realm; iron hand”2

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
7 / 3
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
front
Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8As a first name
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Demirel?

Demirel

IPA /demiˈɾel/

The stress usually falls on syllable 3 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Demirel mean?

Demir, “iron”, joins el. As a name element el is usually read as “realm, people”, giving “a land as firm as iron”; the reading “iron hand, strong hand”, taking el as the body part, is also possible. It is also used as a male given name.2,3

Grammar Compound: demir + el.

That Demirel goes back to demir and el is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Demirel made of?

Demirel breaks into 2 parts: demir (iron; firm) + el (realm, people; or hand).

Demirel ++ first element demir iron; firm TURKIC demir “iron; figurativelystrong, firm” suffix el realm, people; or hand TURKIC el “country, people; alsohand” Demirel demir first element iron; firm demir TURKIC “iron; figuratively strong, firm” el suffix realm, people; or hand el TURKIC “country, people; also hand”
Demirel: parts and root words
  • demir Turkic — iron; figuratively strong, firm2
  • el Turkic — country, people; also hand3

How was the name Demirel formed?

Demirel belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (demir + el).

Which surnames are related to Demirel?

Demirel Demir Özdemir Demirci Aydemir Demirtaş Kandemir Akdemir Taşdemir Demircan Demirhan Erdemir Demirer
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Demir same root 3 876,934
02 Özdemir same root 10 556,378
03 Demirci same root – –
04 Aydemir same root – –
05 Demirtaş same root – –
06 Kandemir same root – –
07 Akdemir same root – –
08 Taşdemir same root – –
09 Demircan same root – –
10 Demirhan same root – –
11 Erdemir same root – –
12 Demirer same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Demirel most common?

Demirel is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 25th in Kırıkkale.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale · rank 25 · 832 people Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 1
  • Not listed
Demirel: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Kırıkkale25832

Who are some well-known people named Demirel?

  1. Süleyman Demirel politician 1924–2015
  2. Volkan Demirel association football player 1981–
  3. Bektaş Demirel judoka 1976–
  4. Füsun Demirel actor 1958–
  5. Mithat Demirel basketball player 1978–
  6. Özlem Demirel politician 1984–
  7. Muhammed Demirel judoka 2002–
  8. Nazmiye Demirel housewife 1927–2013

People surnamed Demirel as recorded in Wikidata, ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions.

Is Demirel also a first name?

Yes. Demirel is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “iron realm; iron hand”.

Demirel as a first name: meaning and statistics — turkiyenames.com →

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: demir accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: el accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Demirel accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  9. 9 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Demirel

Q1

What does the surname Demirel mean?

Demir, “iron”, joins el. As a name element el is usually read as “realm, people”, giving “a land as firm as iron”; the reading “iron hand, strong hand”, taking el as the body part, is also possible. It is also used as a male given name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Demirel?

The root word of Demirel is demir (Turkic): “iron; figuratively strong, firm”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Demirel?

De·mi·rel, 3 syllables; IPA: /demiˈɾel/.