SURNAMENo. 7
ADNKS 2025Yıldırım
“thunderbolt; lightning-fast”5
- CategoryWind, rain and lightning
- OriginTurkic
- FormPlain noun
#7 The 7th most common surname in Türkiye 666,723 peopleTÜİK ADNKS 20251
- Letters / syllables
- 8 / 3
- Formation
- Plain noun
Contents§1–§17
How do you pronounce Yıldırım?
The stress usually falls on syllable 3 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.
What does the surname Yıldırım mean?
The word for a thunderbolt, the lightning that strikes the ground. In phrases it comes to mean “lightning-fast”, as in yıldırım hızıyla, “at lightning speed”. The surname carries this image of sudden power and speed, and Yıldırım is also a male given name.5
Yıldırım is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.
What is Yıldırım made of?
Yıldırım is a single root: yıldırım (lightning, thunderbolt).
- yıldırım Turkic — thunderbolt, lightning strike; figuratively lightning-fast5
How was the name Yıldırım formed?
Yıldırım belongs to the “plain noun” class of surnames.
Yıldırım was the epithet of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I (c. 1360–1403), known in Turkish as “Yıldırım Bayezid” and in English as Bayezid the Thunderbolt. According to English Wikipedia, he earned the nickname through his impetuous conduct in a battle against the Karamanids. It shows that the word was used as a byname in Turkish long before modern surnames.6
Which surnames are related to Yıldırım?
| # | Surname | Relation | Rank | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Özyıldırım | same root | – | – |
| 02 | Yıldırımlı | same root | – | – |
How many people in Türkiye are called Yıldırım?
Yıldırım is the seventh most common surname, 21,491 behind Şahin and 79,892 ahead of Öztürk.1
Bearers by year
| 2018 | 636,738 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 643,571 |
| 2020 | 648,965 |
| 2021 | 654,066 |
| 2022 | 658,631 |
| 2023 | 661,503 |
| 2024 | 664,229 |
| 2025 | 666,723 |
Yıldırım gained 29,985 bearers between 2018 and 2025, yet its share slipped from 7.76 to 7.74 per 1,000 people, because the population grew faster. Its absolute gain is the sixth largest in the top 10. It has held 7th place every year since 2018.1,2
How has Yıldırım ranked over the years?
| Year | Rank | People | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | 666,723 | +2,494 | [1] |
| 2024 | 7 | 664,229 | +2,726 | [1] |
| 2023 | 7 | 661,503 | +2,872 | [1] |
| 2022 | 7 | 658,631 | +4,565 | [1] |
| 2021 | 7 | 654,066 | +5,101 | [1] |
| 2020 | 7 | 648,965 | +5,394 | [1] |
| 2019 | 7 | 643,571 | +6,833 | [1] |
| 2018 | 7 | 636,738 | – | [1] |
Where in Türkiye is Yıldırım most common?
Yıldırım tops the list only in Elazığ, but is in the top three in 7 provinces.1
- Most common surname (#1) 1
- In the top three (#2–3) 6
- In the province top 30 73
- Not listed
| # | Province | Rank | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Istanbul | 9 | 113,255 |
| 02 | Ankara | 3 | 52,576 |
| 03 | Izmir | 6 | 30,896 |
| 04 | Gaziantep | 4 | 29,645 |
| 05 | Bursa | 9 | 23,938 |
| 06 | Antalya | 6 | 21,196 |
Provinces where it is #1 1
- Elazığ
How often would you meet a Yıldırım?
In a school of 1,000 pupils you would expect about 8 Yıldırıms.
In a class of 30, the chance that at least one pupil is a Yıldırım is about 21%.
666,723 ÷ 86,092,168 × 1,000 ≈ 7.7 1,2
The calculation divides bearers by the 2025 ADNKS population; a real school or class will differ by region.
How does Yıldırım compare with similar surnames?
Surnames in the “Wind, rain and lightning” category and the Yıldırım family:
- 5 Yıldız 697,080
- 6 Şahin 688,214
- 7 Yıldırım 666,723
- 8 Öztürk 586,831
- 9 Aydın 581,387
- 20 Şimşek 253,543
Yıldırım and Şahin are carried by almost exactly as many people.
How many people are called Mehmet Yıldırım?
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 Yıldırım | ≈9,850estimate |
| 02 | Fatma Yıldırım | ≈8,923estimate |
| 03 | Mustafa Yıldırım | ≈8,191estimate |
| 04 | Ayşe Yıldırım | ≈7,023estimate |
| 05 | Ahmet Yıldırım | ≈6,638estimate |
Who are some well-known people named Yıldırım?
- Binali Yıldırım politician 1955–
- Murat Yıldırım actor 1979–
- Bertuğ Yıldırım association football player 2002–
- Aziz Yıldırım association football player 1952–
- Uğur Yıldırım association football player 1982–
- Rukiye Yıldırım taekwondo athlete 1991–
- Haluk Yıldırım basketball player 1972–
- Sercan Yıldırım association football player 1990–
People surnamed Yıldırım as recorded in Wikidata, ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions.
Is Yıldırım also a first name?
Yes. Yıldırım is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “thunderbolt; lightning-fast”.
Yıldırım as a first name: meaning and statistics — turkiyenames.com →
How is Yıldırım written and pronounced abroad?
In passports and records outside Turkey Yıldırım is usually written Yildirim.
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 Wikimedia Wiktionary: yıldırım
- 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: yıldırım
- 5 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Yıldırım
- 6 Wikimedia Wikipedia: Bayezid I
- 7 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name
- 8 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı — En çok kullanılan isimler (ADNKS)
- 9 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
- 10 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
- 11 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries
- 12 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com)
Common questions about Yıldırım
- Q1
What does the surname Yıldırım mean?
- The word for a thunderbolt, the lightning that strikes the ground. In phrases it comes to mean “lightning-fast”, as in yıldırım hızıyla, “at lightning speed”. The surname carries this image of sudden power and speed, and Yıldırım is also a male given name.
- Q2
How many people in Türkiye have the surname Yıldırım?
- 666,723 people, according to TÜİK ADNKS 2025, which places it at number 7 in Türkiye.
- Q3
In which provinces is Yıldırım the most common surname?
- In the TÜİK ADNKS 2025 province lists it ranks first in Elazığ.
- Q4
What is the origin of the surname Yıldırım?
- The root word of Yıldırım is yıldırım (Turkic): “thunderbolt, lightning strike; figuratively lightning-fast”.
- Q5
How do you pronounce Yıldırım?
- Yıl·dı·rım, 3 syllables; IPA: /jɯɫdɯˈɾɯm/.