Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,300

Emekli

Emekli /emekˈli/

“laborious; retired”3

Letters / syllables
6 / 3
Formation
Suffixed
Vowel harmony
front
Initial
E
Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7Abroad
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Emekli?

Emekli

IPA /emekˈli/

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

What does the surname Emekli mean?

Emekli today means a retired person who receives a pension after leaving work; Wiktionary notes that it replaced the Arabic loan mütekait in this sense. The word is formed from emek, “labour”, and -li, “having”, and the dictionary also records the older sense “obtained through toil, laborious”.3

Grammar emek + -li (“having”).

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

Emekli is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Emekli made of?

Emekli breaks into 2 parts: emek (labour, toil) + -li (having).

Emekli + root emek labour, toil TURKIC emekli “retired person; obtainedby toil” suffix -li having Emekli emek root labour, toil emekli TURKIC “retired person; obtained by toil” -li suffix having
Emekli: parts and root words
  • emekli Turkic — retired person; obtained by toil3

How was the name Emekli formed?

Emekli belongs to the “suffixed” class of surnames (emek + -li).

Which surnames are related to Emekli?

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

Who are some well-known people named Emekli?

  1. Hicabi Emekli association football player 1925–2015
  2. Mehmet Emekli politician 1932–2009
  3. Ahmed Emekli researcher
  4. Ebru Emekli-Alturfan researcher
  5. Emre Emekli researcher
  6. Uğur Emekli researcher

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

How is Emekli written and pronounced abroad?

Emekli uses only letters shared with English, so the spelling stays the same abroad.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: emekli accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: emekli accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: emekli accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Emekli

Q1

What does the surname Emekli mean?

Emekli today means a retired person who receives a pension after leaving work; Wiktionary notes that it replaced the Arabic loan mütekait in this sense. The word is formed from emek, “labour”, and -li, “having”, and the dictionary also records the older sense “obtained through toil, laborious”.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Emekli?

The root word of Emekli is emekli (Turkic): “retired person; obtained by toil”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Emekli?

E·mek·li, 3 syllables; IPA: /emekˈli/.