Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,311

Er

/eɾ/

“man, hero; soldier”2

Province lists
31
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
2 / 1
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
front
Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Provinces
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Er?

Er

IPA /eɾ/

What does the surname Er mean?

Er has meant “man, brave man” since Old Turkic; today it also denotes a private soldier. It goes back to Proto-Turkic *ēr. It is the first element of many names such as Erol, Erdoğan and Ersoy. It should not be confused with the separate word er, “early”.2

Er is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Er made of?

Er is a single root: er (man; soldier; brave man).

Er root er man; soldier; brave man TURKIC er “man; hero; privatesoldier” Er er root man; soldier; brave man er TURKIC “man; hero; private soldier”
Er: parts and root words
  • er Turkic — man; hero; private soldier2

How was the name Er formed?

Er belongs to the “plain noun” class of surnames.

Where in Türkiye is Er most common?

Er is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 3 provinces; its best rank is 20th in Yalova.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 · rank 29 · 1,157 people 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 · rank 26 · 1,471 people Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova · rank 20 · 858 people Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 3
  • Not listed
Er: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Aksaray261,471
02Hakkari291,157
03Yalova20858

Who are some well-known people named Er?

  1. Necati Er athletics competitor 1997–
  2. Mustafa Er association football player 1980–
  3. Rahim Er writer 1950–
  4. Ahmet Er politician 1927–2017
  5. Hüseyin Er association football player 1985–2021
  6. Seçil Er taekwondo athlete 1990–
  7. Mihriban Er actor 1966–
  8. Alev Er journalist 1950–

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

Is Er also a first name?

Yes. Er is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “man, hero; soldier”.

Er 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: er accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Er

Q1

What does the surname Er mean?

Er has meant “man, brave man” since Old Turkic; today it also denotes a private soldier. It goes back to Proto-Turkic *ēr. It is the first element of many names such as Erol, Erdoğan and Ersoy. It should not be confused with the separate word er, “early”.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Er?

The root word of Er is er (Turkic): “man; hero; private soldier”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Er?

Er, 1 syllable; IPA: /eɾ/.