Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 3,232

Ünlü

Ünlü /ynˈly/ ASCII Unlu

“famous, renowned”2

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
4 / 2
Formation
Suffixed
Vowel harmony
front
Contents§1–§12
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8As a first name
  9. §9Abroad
  10. §10Sources
  11. §11Questions
  12. §12Related

How do you pronounce Ünlü?

Ünlü

IPA /ynˈly/

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

What does the surname Ünlü mean?

Ün, “fame”, takes the suffix -lü, “having”: “famous, renowned”. In Old Turkic ün meant “voice”; a famous person is one whose name is heard by all. The surname carries the wish to be a respected, well-known family.2

Grammar ün + -lü.

Ünlü is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Ünlü made of?

Ünlü breaks into 2 parts: ün (fame) + -lü (suffix “having”).

Ünlü + root ün fame TURKIC ün “fame, reputation; OldTurkic voice” suffix -lü suffix “having” Ünlü ün root fame ün TURKIC “fame, reputation; Old Turkicvoice” -lü suffix suffix “having”
Ünlü: parts and root words
  • ün Turkic — fame, reputation; Old Turkic voice2

How was the name Ünlü formed?

Ünlü belongs to the “suffixed” class of surnames (ün + -lü).

Which surnames are related to Ünlü?

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

Where in Türkiye is Ünlü most common?

Ünlü is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 25th in Karaman.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 · rank 25 · 835 people 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
Ünlü: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Karaman25835

Who are some well-known people named Ünlü?

  1. Onur Ünlü actor 1973–
  2. Volkan Ünlü association football player 1983–
  3. Baturalp Ünlü swimmer 2002–
  4. Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü writer 1965–
  5. Tolga Ünlü association football player 1989–
  6. Ebru Ünlü actor 1990–
  7. Fikret Ünlü politician 1943–2019
  8. Hasan Ünlü politician 1925–2020

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

Is Ünlü also a first name?

Yes. Ünlü is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “famous, renowned”.

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

How is Ünlü written and pronounced abroad?

In passports and records outside Turkey Ünlü is usually written Unlu or Uenlue.

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: ün accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: ünlü 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
  7. 7 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Ünlü

Q1

What does the surname Ünlü mean?

Ün, “fame”, takes the suffix -lü, “having”: “famous, renowned”. In Old Turkic ün meant “voice”; a famous person is one whose name is heard by all. The surname carries the wish to be a respected, well-known family.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Ünlü?

The root word of Ünlü is ün (Turkic): “fame, reputation; Old Turkic voice”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Ünlü?

Ün·lü, 2 syllables; IPA: /ynˈly/.