Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,767

Eker

Eker /eˈkeɾ/

“one who sows”2

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

How do you pronounce Eker?

Eker

IPA /eˈkeɾ/

The stress usually falls on syllable 2 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Eker mean?

From ekmek “to sow”: Eker is “he who sows”, the one who casts seed into the soil. The form describes someone working the fields and follows the pattern of aorist names such as Yener and Sezer.2

Grammar Aorist participle of ekmek (ek- + -er); “eker” is also the third-person singular “he sows”.

That Eker goes back to ekmek is probable rather than proven: the dictionary entry cited supports it.

What is Eker made of?

Eker is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: ek- (ekmek: to sow) + -er (aorist participle).

Eker + root ek- ekmek: to sow TURKIC ekmek “to sow seed, to plant” suffix -er aorist participle Eker ek- root ekmek: to sow ekmek TURKIC “to sow seed, to plant” -er suffix aorist participle
Eker: parts and root words
  • ekmek Turkic — to sow seed, to plant2

How was the name Eker formed?

Eker was formed by adding the suffix -er (“aorist participle”) to the verb stem ek- (“ekmek: to sow”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.6

Which surnames are related to Eker?

Eker Ekici Eken
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Ekici same root – –
02 Eken same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Eker most common?

Eker is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 20th in Çorum.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum · rank 20 · 1,888 people 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 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
Eker: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Çorum201,888

Who are some well-known people named Eker?

  1. Selçuk Eker boxer 1991–
  2. İlhan Eker association football player 1983–
  3. Mehmet Mehdi Eker politician 1956–
  4. Özgür Eker Internet celebrity 1998–
  5. Zeki Eker politician 1956–
  6. Abdullah Eker politician 1915–1985
  7. Rafet Eker politician 1928–1985
  8. İsmet Eker politician 1877–1962

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

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 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: ekmek accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: eker accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: ekmek 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 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Eker

Q1

What does the surname Eker mean?

From ekmek “to sow”: Eker is “he who sows”, the one who casts seed into the soil. The form describes someone working the fields and follows the pattern of aorist names such as Yener and Sezer.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Eker?

The root word of Eker is ekmek (Turkic): “to sow seed, to plant”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Eker?

E·ker, 2 syllables; IPA: /eˈkeɾ/.