SURNAMENo. 16
ADNKS 2025Kara
“black, dark; dark-haired”3
- CategoryColours
- OriginTurkic
- FormAdjective
#16 The 16th most common surname in Türkiye 290,024 peopleTÜİK ADNKS 20251
- Letters / syllables
- 4 / 2
- Formation
- Adjective
Contents§1–§16
How do you pronounce Kara?
The stress usually falls on syllable 2 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.
What does the surname Kara mean?
Kara means “black, dark”; said of a person it also means “dark-haired, dark-skinned”. Dictionaries also record an archaic figurative sense, “brave”. Kara is also a male given name.3
Kara is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.
What is Kara made of?
Kara is a single Turkic root: kara (black; figuratively strong, great).
- kara Turkic — black, dark; brunette; archaic figurative: brave3
How was the name Kara formed?
Kara is the adjective kara (“black; figuratively strong, great”), taken unchanged as a surname.
Which surnames are related to Kara?
| # | Surname | Relation | Rank | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Karataş | same root | – | – |
| 02 | Karahan | same root | – | – |
| 03 | Karaca | same root | – | – |
| 04 | Karakaş | same root | – | – |
| 05 | Karadağ | same root | – | – |
| 06 | Karakaya | same root | – | – |
| 07 | Karakoç | same root | – | – |
| 08 | Karaaslan | same root | – | – |
| 09 | Karagöz | same root | – | – |
| 10 | Baykara | same root | – | – |
| 11 | Karabulut | same root | – | – |
| 12 | Karasu | same root | – | – |
How many people in Türkiye are called Kara?
In TÜİK’s ADNKS 2025 figures, 290,024 people in Türkiye carry the surname Kara, ranking it 16th in the top 30. That is 55,305 behind Çetin and 301 ahead of Kurt.1
Bearers by year
| 2018 | 278,159 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 280,988 |
| 2020 | 283,158 |
| 2021 | 285,063 |
| 2022 | 286,930 |
| 2023 | 287,923 |
| 2024 | 288,689 |
| 2025 | 290,024 |
Kara gained 11,865 bearers between 2018 and 2025, yet its share slipped from 3.39 to 3.37 per 1,000 people, because the population grew faster. It has held 16th place every year since 2018.1,2
How has Kara ranked over the years?
| Year | Rank | People | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 16 | 290,024 | +1,335 | [1] |
| 2024 | 16 | 288,689 | +766 | [1] |
| 2023 | 16 | 287,923 | +993 | [1] |
| 2022 | 16 | 286,930 | +1,867 | [1] |
| 2021 | 16 | 285,063 | +1,905 | [1] |
| 2020 | 16 | 283,158 | +2,170 | [1] |
| 2019 | 16 | 280,988 | +2,829 | [1] |
| 2018 | 16 | 278,159 | – | [1] |
Where in Türkiye is Kara most common?
Kara is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 51 provinces; its best rank is 7th in Kastamonu.1
- In the province top 30 51
- Not listed
| # | Province | Rank | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Istanbul | 16 | 48,437 |
| 02 | Ankara | 26 | 17,124 |
| 03 | Izmir | 20 | 13,123 |
| 04 | Antalya | 16 | 10,618 |
| 05 | Konya | 16 | 9,868 |
| 06 | Mersin | 14 | 9,732 |
How often would you meet a Kara?
About one person in 297 in Türkiye is a Kara; a town of 10,000 would have around 34.
290,024 ÷ 86,092,168 × 1,000 ≈ 3.4 1,2
The calculation divides bearers by the 2025 ADNKS population; a real school or class will differ by region.
How many people are called Mehmet Kara?
These are estimates that assume given names and surnames are independent. In reality, families and regions do not choose names independently, so read them as orders of magnitude.
| # | Full name | Estimated people |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mehmet Kara | ≈4,285estimate |
| 02 | Fatma Kara | ≈3,881estimate |
| 03 | Mustafa Kara | ≈3,563estimate |
| 04 | Ayşe Kara | ≈3,055estimate |
| 05 | Ahmet Kara | ≈2,887estimate |
Who are some well-known people named Kara?
- Yadé Kara actor 1965–
- Ercan Kara association football player 1996–
- Rasim Kara association football player 1950–
- Aytaç Kara association football player 1993–
- Burcu Kara actor 1980–
- Emine Kara combatant 1974–2022
- Fatma Kara association football player 1991–
- Senan Kara actor 1978–
People surnamed Kara as recorded in Wikidata, ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions.
Is Kara also a first name?
Yes. Kara is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “black, dark; dark-haired”.
Kara as a first name: meaning and statistics — turkiyenames.com →
Where do these facts come from?
- 1 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)
- 2 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK ADNKS: Cinsiyete göre nüfus, Türkiye ve 81 il
- 3 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: kara
- 4 Wikimedia Wiktionary: kara
- 5 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Kara
- 6 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name
- 7 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı — En çok kullanılan isimler (ADNKS)
- 8 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
- 9 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries
- 10 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com)
Common questions about Kara
- Q1
What does the surname Kara mean?
- Kara means “black, dark”; said of a person it also means “dark-haired, dark-skinned”. Dictionaries also record an archaic figurative sense, “brave”. Kara is also a male given name.
- Q2
How many people in Türkiye have the surname Kara?
- 290,024 people, according to TÜİK ADNKS 2025, which places it at number 16 in Türkiye.
- Q3
What is the origin of the surname Kara?
- The root word of Kara is kara (Turkic): “black, dark; brunette; archaic figurative: brave”.
- Q4
How do you pronounce Kara?
- Ka·ra, 2 syllables; IPA: /kaˈɾa/.