Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Surname index·Length

5-letter surnames

945 surnames have exactly 5 letters, the most common length in the dictionary (27.4% of all entries). 15 of them are in the national top 30; the most common is Demir, ranked 3rd with 876,934 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). Next come Çelik (4th) and Şahin (6th).

Surnames
945
in this index
In the national top 30
151
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Demir
876,934 people
Pages
1 / 5

945 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order

  1. Abacı maker of aba cloth
  2. Abalı one who wears a woollen cloak
  3. Abbas stern-looking; lion (given name)
  4. Abdal wandering dervish
  5. Ablak round-faced
  6. Adalı islander
  7. Ademi human
  8. Adnan male name; “settler”
  9. Afşar Oghuz tribal name; nimble
  10. Ağgül white rose
  11. Ahmed most praised
  12. Ahmet most praised
  13. Akata venerable ancestor
  14. Akbağ white bond, or white vineyard
  15. Akbal white honey
  16. Akbar greatest
  17. Akbaş white-headed
  18. Akbay pure and noble man
  19. Akcan white dear, pure soul
  20. Akçal white-speckled; white rocky hill
  21. Akçam white pine
  22. Akçay white stream
  23. Akçıl whitish, faded
  24. Akdağ white mountain
  25. Akdaş white stone
  26. Akdik pure and upright
  27. Akdur stay pure
  28. Akgöl white lake
  29. Akgöz white eye
  30. Akgül white rose
  31. Akgün bright, happy day
  32. Akhan white lord
  33. Akkan of pure lineage; white khan
  34. Akkaş white-browed
  35. Akkoç white ram
  36. Akkor white-hot
  37. Akkuş white bird
  38. Akman pure, unspoilt
  39. Akmaz still water, backwater
  40. Akmen white, pure
  41. Akova white plain, bright lowland
  42. Aksak limping
  43. Aksel new name echoing Axel
  44. Aksoy of clean lineage
  45. Aksöz honest word
  46. Akşan spotless renown
  47. Akşin fair-skinned, pale
  48. Akşit ruler (the Sogdian title Ikhshid)
  49. Aktan white dawn, first light
  50. Aktar herbalist, spice seller
  51. Aktaş white stone #30
  52. Aktay white colt
  53. Aktuğ white horsetail standard
  54. Akyar white cliff
  55. Akyel white wind, clean breeze
  56. Akyıl white year, good year
  57. Akyol white road; clear, honest path
  58. Akyüz honourable, “white-faced”
  59. Alaca piebald, multicoloured
  60. Albay colonel
  61. Algan one who takes, conqueror
  62. Algöz red eye
  63. Algül red rose
  64. Alıcı buyer; bird of prey
  65. Alkan red blood
  66. Alkım rainbow
  67. Alkış blessing, praise; applause
  68. Alkor red-hot ember
  69. Almas diamond
  70. Alpar short form of Alper Tunga
  71. Alpay radiant hero
  72. Alper valiant man, hero
  73. Altan golden; red dawn
  74. Altaş red stone
  75. Altay the Altai mountains; given name
  76. Alten rosy-skinned
  77. Altın gold; precious
  78. Altuğ red horse-tail standard
  79. Altun gold
  80. Alver trade, buying and selling
  81. Andaç keepsake, memento
  82. Anday oath, vow
  83. Andıç memorandum
  84. Anjum stars
  85. Anlaş get along, agree
  86. Aracı mediator, middleman
  87. Ardıç juniper
  88. Argun weasel; bold, dashing
  89. Arhan brave lord
  90. Arıcı beekeeper
  91. Arkın unhurried; next year
  92. Arkoç ar + koç ‘ram’
  93. Arkun slow; next year
  94. Arman wish, longing
  95. Arnaz mountain name near Van
  96. Arpad Árpád, the Magyar leader
  97. Arsal yellowish horse colour
  98. Arsan pure reputation
  99. Arsoy pure lineage
  100. Artaç increasing, thriving
  101. Artam virtue
  102. Artan increasing; virtue
  103. Artuç juniper
  104. Artun awake, sober; dignified
  105. Arvas Arvas (place in Van)
  106. Asena the Göktürk clan Ashina; the legendary she-wolf
  107. Aslan lion; brave, strong #14
  108. Aslım my origin, my lineage
  109. Aşkar Battal Gazi’s horse
  110. Aşkın surpassing; loving
  111. Atalı having forefathers
  112. Ataöv praise the ancestor
  113. Atıcı marksman, good shot
  114. Atsız nameless
  115. Attar perfume and spice seller
  116. Avşar name of an Oghuz tribe (Afshar)
  117. Ayata moon grandfather
  118. Aybar majesty; moon-bright
  119. Aybay moon-bright, wealthy lord
  120. Aycan dear moon
  121. Aydan from the moon, moon-bright
  122. Aydar male name; ay-name or a form of Haydar
  123. Aydın bright; enlightened, educated #9
  124. Aydos moon-friend; hill and mountain name
  125. Aygen close friend; broad-minded
  126. Aygül moon rose
  127. Aygün day bright as the moon
  128. Ayhan moon-bright khan
  129. Aykaç eloquent speaker, adviser
  130. Aykal stay like the moon
  131. Aykan of moon-pure blood, noble
  132. Aykoç moon + ram
  133. Aykul moon + servant
  134. Aykut blessing of the moon
  135. Ayman auspicious; or moon-fair
  136. Aymaz unwary, heedless
  137. Aypar piece of the moon; moonlight
  138. Ayral one of a kind, distinct
  139. Aysal moon-like, lunar
  140. Aysan beautiful as the moon
  141. Aytaç moon-crowned
  142. Aytan moon and dawn
  143. Aytar messenger, one who reports
  144. Aytaş moonstone
  145. Ayten moon-bodied, moon-skinned
  146. Aytuğ moon banner
  147. Ayvaz household servant; dialect husband
  148. Azman overgrown, huge
  149. Badem almond
  150. Badur hero, valiant (batur)
  151. Bağcı vine-grower
  152. Bağış gift, donation
  153. Bağlı bound, loyal
  154. Bahar spring
  155. Bahri of the sea, seaman
  156. Bakan one who tends; minister
  157. Bakar ox; or ‘he looks after’
  158. Bakır copper
  159. Baksı teacher, bard, shaman
  160. Balcı honey seller, beekeeper
  161. Balık fish
  162. Ballı honeyed; lucky
  163. Balta axe
  164. Barak shaggy cloth; man’s name
  165. Baran rain
  166. Barış peace
  167. Barka large rowing boat
  168. Baron baron, title of nobility
  169. Bartu wealthy; fortune
  170. Barut gunpowder; fiery temper
  171. Başak ear of grain
  172. Başar “succeed!”
  173. Başer leading man, chief warrior
  174. Başol be a leader
  175. Batır hero, warrior
  176. Batum the city of Batumi
  177. Batur hero, valiant
  178. Bayar joy, festivity
  179. Bayat name of an Oghuz tribe
  180. Bayaz white
  181. Bayer prosperous, respected man
  182. Bayır hillside, slope
  183. Bebek baby
  184. Bedel equivalent, price
  185. Bedir full moon
  186. Bediz adornment
  187. Bedük big (old form); resin
  188. Bekar unmarried, bachelor
  189. Bekçi watchman

What does a 5-letter surname look like?

Five letters is the typical length of a two-syllable Turkish word, and some of the most common surnames have it: Demir, Çelik, Şahin and Aydın. Turkish spelling comes close to one letter per sound, so the letter count is a fair measure of how long a name sounds. The exception is ğ: Doğan has five letters but only four sounds, because the ğ merely lengthens the o.

Surnames of this length, in figures

The meanings are spread over 47 categories; the largest are “Built from Turkic name elements” (100), “Virtue and integrity” (66) and “Patronymic -oğlu surnames” (52). Turkic roots dominate (652 surnames, 70.3%); the rest come from Arabic (127), Persian (76), Mongolic (24), other languages (19), Greek (16), French (9), Armenian (3), Kurdish (1). By syllables, most have 2 syllables (919); 26 have 3 syllables. The most frequent initials are A (148), B (91) and K (82). In vowel harmony, names with only back vowels lead (461) over front-vowel names (320); 164 mix the two, usually a sign of a compound or a loan.

By number of letters

Sources

  1. 1Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)