Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 3,347

Yeniçeri

Yeniçeri /jenitʃeˈɾi/ ASCII Yeniceri

“Janissary”1

Letters / syllables
8 / 4
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
front
Initial
Y
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 Yeniçeri?

Yeniçeri

IPA /jenitʃeˈɾi/

The stress usually falls on syllable 4 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Yeniçeri mean?

Yeniçeri means ‘new soldier’, from yeni ‘new’ and çeri ‘soldier’, from Old Turkic čerig ‘army’. It was the name of the Ottoman standing infantry corps founded in the 14th century and abolished in 1826, and of its soldiers: the Janissaries.1

Grammar yeni + çeri.

Yeniçeri is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Yeniçeri made of?

Yeniçeri breaks into 2 parts: yeni (yeni: new) + çeri (çeri: soldier, army).

Yeniçeri + root yeni yeni: new TURKIC yeni “new” root çeri çeri: soldier, army TURKIC çeri “soldier, army(Proto-Turkic *čerig)” Yeniçeri yeni root yeni: new yeni TURKIC “new” çeri root çeri: soldier, army çeri TURKIC “soldier, army (Proto-Turkic*čerig)”
Yeniçeri: parts and root words
  • yeni Turkic — new1
  • çeri Turkic — soldier, army (Proto-Turkic *čerig)1

How was the name Yeniçeri formed?

Yeniçeri belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (yeni + çeri).

Which surnames are related to Yeniçeri?

Yeniçeri Yenigün Yeni Yenice
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Yenigün same root – –
02 Yeni same root – –
03 Yenice same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Yeniçeri?

  1. Berna Yeniçeri association football player 1996–
  2. Özcan Yeniçeri politician 1954–
  3. Gökmen Yeniçeri basketball player 1976–
  4. Sonay Özgün Yeniçeri association football player 2003–

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

How is Yeniçeri written and pronounced abroad?

Outside Türkiye the name is usually written Yeniceri.

Where do these facts come from?

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

Common questions about Yeniçeri

Q1

What does the surname Yeniçeri mean?

Yeniçeri means ‘new soldier’, from yeni ‘new’ and çeri ‘soldier’, from Old Turkic čerig ‘army’. It was the name of the Ottoman standing infantry corps founded in the 14th century and abolished in 1826, and of its soldiers: the Janissaries.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Yeniçeri?

The root word of Yeniçeri is yeni (Turkic): “new”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Yeniçeri?

Ye·ni·çe·ri, 4 syllables; IPA: /jenitʃeˈɾi/.