Yılmaz

§1How do you pronounce Yılmaz?

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

§2What does the surname Yılmaz mean?

The verb yılmak means to be daunted, to lose heart and back away; the suffix -maz negates it. Yılmaz therefore describes someone who does not lose heart and does not give up in the face of hardship. It was already a male given name before the Surname Law.⁵

Grammar Negative aorist participle of yılmak (yıl- + -maz), used as an adjective and as a name.

§3What is Yılmaz made of?

Yılmaz breaks into 2 parts: yıl- (yılmak: to be daunted, to lose heart) + -maz (negative aorist participle).

• yılmak Turkic — to be daunted, to shrink back⁵

§4How was the name Yılmaz formed?

Yılmaz belongs to the “from a verb” class of surnames (yıl- + -maz).

§5Which surnames are related to Yılmaz?

§6How many people in Türkiye are called Yılmaz?

Yılmaz is the most common surname in Türkiye, 278,174 people ahead of Kaya in second place.¹

Bearers by year

Yılmaz gained 43,453 bearers between 2018 and 2025, yet its share slipped from 13.83 to 13.68 per 1,000 people, because the population grew faster. Its absolute gain is the third largest in the top 10. It has held first place every year since 2018.^1,2

NVİ NVİ, a separate register, reported 1,580,313 people named Yılmaz for 2021. NVİ and ADNKS count different populations, so we never chart them together.³

§7How has Yılmaz ranked over the years?

§9How often would you meet a Yılmaz?

In a school of 1,000 pupils you would expect about 14 Yılmazs.

In a class of 30, the chance that at least one pupil is a Yılmaz is about 34%.

1,177,896 ÷ 86,092,168 × 1,000 ≈ 13.7 ^1,2

The calculation divides bearers by the 2025 ADNKS population; a real school or class will differ by region.

§10How does Yılmaz compare with similar surnames?

Surnames in the “Courage and resilience” category and the Yılmaz family:

For every Çetin there are about 3.4 Yılmazs.

§11How many people are called Mehmet Yılmaz?

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.

people(given name) × people(surname) ÷ population^1,2,8

§12Who are some well-known people named Yılmaz?

1. Burak Yılmaz association football player 1985–
2. Mesut Yılmaz politician 1947–2020
3. Barış Alper Yılmaz association football player 2000–
4. Cem Yılmaz actor 1973–
5. Cevdet Yılmaz politician 1967–
6. Rıdvan Yılmaz association football player 2001–
7. İsmet Yılmaz politician 1961–
8. Aydın Yılmaz association football player 1988–

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

§13Is Yılmaz also a first name?

Yes. Yılmaz is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “undaunted, one who never gives up”.

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

§14How is Yılmaz written and pronounced abroad?

In passports and records outside Turkey Yılmaz is usually written Yilmaz.

§16Common questions about Yılmaz

Q1

What does the surname Yılmaz mean?

The verb yılmak means to be daunted, to lose heart and back away; the suffix -maz negates it. Yılmaz therefore describes someone who does not lose heart and does not give up in the face of hardship. It was already a male given name before the Surname Law.

Q2

How many people in Türkiye have the surname Yılmaz?

1,177,896 people, according to TÜİK ADNKS 2025, which places it at number 1 in Türkiye.

Q3

Is Yılmaz the most common surname in Türkiye?

Yes. With 1,177,896 bearers in 2025 it leads the list, and it has held first place every year since 2018.

Q4

What is the origin of the surname Yılmaz?

The root word of Yılmaz is yılmak (Turkic): “to be daunted, to shrink back”.

Q5

How do you pronounce Yılmaz?

Yıl·maz, 2 syllables; IPA: /jɯɫˈmaz/.