Surname index·Length
4-letter surnames
379 of the dictionary’s 4,813 surnames have exactly 4 letters (7.9%), the sixth most common length. 4 of them are in the national top 30; the most common is Kaya, ranked 2nd with 899,722 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). Next come Kara (16th) and Kurt (17th).
- Surnames
- 379
- in this index
- Most common
- Kaya
- 899,722 people
- Pages
- 1 / 2
379 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order
- Abak effigy, or abacus
- Abay elder brother; insight
- Abla elder sister
- Acar bold, vigorous, capable #28
- Acer a form of the name Hacer
- Acun world, universe
- Açan opening, blossoming
- Açık open, clear; frank
- Adak vow, votive offering
- Adal take a name, win renown
- Adam human being; a decent man
- Adar one who dedicates; March
- Aday candidate
- Adil just, fair
- Ağaç tree
- Ağar it rises; it dawns
- Ağca whitish, pale
- Ağım instep
- Akad clean name; white horse; Akkad
- Akan flowing
- Akar flowing
- Akat white horse
- Akay white, bright moon
- Akça whitish; silver coin
- Akel clean hand; bright land
- Aker white hero, honest man
- Akıl reason, intellect
- Akın raid, onrush
- Akış flow, flowing
- Aköz pure at heart
- Aksu clear water, white water
- Alan open ground, clearing
- Alaş legendary Kazakh ancestor
- Alçı plaster, gypsum
- Alev flame
- Alın forehead; front
- Aliş pet form of Ali
- Amin trustworthy (given name)
- Anar pomegranate (Persian); remembers
- Anıl may you be remembered
- Anlı famous, renowned
- Apak snow-white
- Araç the district of Araç (Kastamonu)
- Aral island
- Arar one who seeks
- Aras the Aras river
- Arat abundant, plentiful
- Araz the river Aras
- Arca pure, clean
- Arda Arda River; marker stake
- Arığ clean, pure
- Arık pure, clean; or lean
- Arın pure, purified
- Arış forearm; warp
- Arif discerning, wise
- Arun the name Aaron (Harun)
- Arzu wish, desire
- Asaf Hebrew name; the wise vizier
- Asan easy, comfortable; a form of Hasan
- Asım protecting, guarding
- Asil noble, well-born
- Asma grapevine
- Asya Asia; a form of Asiye
- Aşar tithe; one who overcomes
- Aşçı cook
- Aşık minstrel poet; lover
- Ataç little father
- Atak daring, bold
- Atam my father
- Atar one who shoots; or perfumer
- Ataş fire (dialect form)
- Atay moon of the ancestors
- Ateş fire
- Atik nimble; noble, ancient
- Atlı horseman, rider
- Avar historical people’s name; man’s name
- Avcı hunter
- Avcu hunter
- Avni helpful; ‘God’s help’
- Ayan evident; notable
- Ayar fineness (of gold); measure
- Ayaz dry frost of clear nights
- Ayda moon name
- Ayık clear-headed, alert
- Ayla lunar halo
- Ayna mirror
- Aysu moon water
- Azak Oghuz bey’s name; Azov
- Azap Ottoman azap soldier; torment
- Azar scolding; the month of March
- Aziz dear, precious; saint
- Baba father; head of a dervish lodge
- Baha beauty, splendour (male name)
- Baki lasting, eternal (male name)
- Bali son, child
- Batu firm, strong; Batu Khan
- Berk firm, strong
- Bese enough
- Bişi fried dough, pişi
- Boğa bull
- Bora squall, violent wind
- Boya paint, dye
- Böke hero, strong man
- Buğa bull
- Büke dragon; girl’s name
- Caba free; extra
- Cebe armour, war gear
- Cici cute, lovely
- Cuci Jochi, son of Genghis; “guest”
- Cûda parted, separated
- Cura smallest bağlama lute
- Cüre cura lute; companion
- Çaka name of Çaka Bey
- Çakı pocket knife
- Çako form of Çeko, a hero in Mem û Zîn
- Çalı bush, shrub
- Çapa hoe
- Çebi a form of the tribal name Çepni
- Çeki scales; old unit of weight
- Çene jaw, chin; talkativeness
- Çete armed band
- Çora hero of the Çora Batır epic
- Dayi maternal uncle
- Dede grandfather, elder
- Deli wild, daring; mad
- Denk equal, matching
- Dere brook, stream
- Deva remedy, cure
- Dinç vigorous, fit
- Doğu east, sunrise
- Dost friend
- Duru clear, limpid, pure
- Edgü good
- Edip man of letters; male name
- Efes Ephesus
- Eğri crooked, bent
- Eken one who sows
- Eker one who sows
- Ekim sowing; October
- Ekin crop, standing grain
- Ekiz twin
- Ekşi sour
- Elçi envoy, ambassador
- Elma apple
- Emek labour, painstaking work
- Emin trustworthy, safe
- Emir commander, prince (given name)
- Emre companion or beloved
- Enli broad, wide
- Erat enlisted men, soldiers
- Eray moon-bright hero
- Erel land of heroes
- Eren saintly one; heroes
- Erez brave, determined
- Erik plum, plum tree
- Erim reach, range
- Eriş attainment, reaching
- Erke energy, power
- Erol be brave, be a man
- Esen healthy, safe and sound
- Eser trace; work
- Esin inspiration; morning breeze
- Evin love; kernel, essence
- Eygi good
- Ezer Azer: fire; short for Eliezer
- Ezgi melody
- Gani rich, wealthy
- Genç young, fresh
- Göle Göle, a district of Ardahan
- Görk beauty, splendour
- Hira the cave of Hira
- Hoca teacher; religious scholar
- Irak far, distant
- Işık light
- Işıl glittering, bright
- İbiş pet form of İbrahim; comic stage character
- İçel İçel, former name of Mersin
- İçli sensitive, tender-hearted
- İçöz inner essence
- İdil the Volga; idyll
- İkiz twin
- İmre friend, companion; form of Emre
- İnal trusted one; old Turkic title
- İnam favour, bounty
- İnan belief, trust
- İnce slender; refined
- İnci pearl
- İpek silk
- İrem garden of paradise
- İris iris; rainbow
What does a 4-letter surname look like?
Four letters allow either one syllable closed by two consonants, as in Kurt ‘wolf’ and Türk, or two syllables, as in Kaya ‘rock’, Kara ‘black’, Ateş ‘fire’ and Uçar ‘flier’. Most two-syllable names of this length are a single word or a root with one short suffix: Uçar is uç- ‘to fly’ plus the aorist -ar. Compounds are scarce at this length; there are not enough letters for two words.
Surnames of this length, in figures
The meanings are spread over 46 categories; the largest are “Virtue and integrity” (30), “Patronymic -oğlu surnames” (21) and “Appearance, body and strength” (21). Turkic roots dominate (243 surnames, 65.9%); the rest come from Arabic (59), Persian (29), other languages (12), Mongolic (9), French (8), Kurdish (5), Greek (3), Armenian (1). By syllables, most have 2 syllables (356); 23 have one syllable. The most frequent initials are A (91), Ö (35) and E (34). In vowel harmony, names with only back vowels lead (197) over front-vowel names (127); 55 mix the two, usually a sign of a compound or a loan.
By number of letters
Sources
- 1Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)