Surname index·Length

6-letter surnames

703 of the dictionary’s 3,450 surnames have exactly 6 letters (20.4%), the second most common length. 5 of them are in the national top 30, among them Yılmaz, the most common surname in Türkiye with 1,177,896 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). Next come Yıldız (5th) and Öztürk (8th).

Surnames: 703; in this index
In the national top 30: 5¹; ADNKS 2025
Most common: Yılmaz; 1,177,896 people
Pages: 1 / 4

703 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order

Abadan prosperous, flourishing
Abanoz ebony
Acuner man of the world
Açıkel open hand, generous
Adanır devoted, self-giving
Adıvar renowned, famous
Afacan clever and mischievous
Ağacık dear agha
Ağbaba elder + father
Akalan white clearing
Akalın honourable, “white-browed”
Akarca small stream; hot spring
Akarsu running water, stream
Akatlı rider on a white horse
Akbaba vulture
Akçalı moneyed; whitish
Akçura benevolent spirit
Akıllı intelligent, sensible
Akıncı raider, frontier cavalryman
Akınlı raider
Akışık white light, clear radiance
Akkale white castle
Akkaya white rock
Akkurt white wolf
Akkuzu white lamb
Akoğlu son of Ak
Akseki district in Antalya
Aktepe white hill
Aktuna white + Tuna (Tunga)
Aktunç white bronze
Aktürk honest, upright Turk
Aküzüm white grape
Akyazı white plain; district of Sakarya
Akyurt white homeland
Aladağ mottled mountain
Alagöz hazel-eyed
Alakuş pied bird
Alasya Alashiya, ancient name of Cyprus
Alataş speckled stone
Alışık accustomed
Alican dear Ali
Alişan glorious Ali (given name)
Alkaya red rock
Alphan valiant ruler
Alpman hero-like, valiant
Alpsoy heroic lineage
Altıok six arrows
Altuna gold
Anadol short form of Anadolu (Anatolia)
Arabul seek and find
Ararat Mount Ararat
Arıcan pure of soul
Arıkan of pure blood
Arısan pure renown
Arısoy pure lineage
Arpacı barley dealer
Arslan lion #11
Asutay beneficial, profitable
Asyalı from Asia
Atabay tutor of princes, atabeg
Atabek guardian of princes, atabeg
Atabey Seljuk title: tutor-regent of princes
Atacan devoted to one’s forefathers
Atadan from the ancestor
Atagül forefather + rose
Atagün ancestors’ day
Ataizi the ancestor's footprint
Atakan of ancestral blood, noble
Atakol ancestral branch
Atakul ancestor + servant
Atalan famous, renowned
Atalar ancestors, forefathers
Atalay bold, quick to charge
Atalık fatherliness
Ataman chief, great elder
Atasoy ancestral lineage
Ateşçi stoker, fire-tender
Ateşin fiery, ardent
Ateşli fiery, passionate
Atilla name of the Hun ruler
Atmaca sparrowhawk
Ayaşlı from Ayaş
Aybaba moon + father
Aybars moon-bright leopard
Aykurt moon wolf
Aynacı mirror-maker
Ayoğlu son of Ay (‘moon’)
Bağana (dialect) small child, or post
Bağdat the city of Baghdad
Bakkal grocer
Balbay honey and plenty
Balkan wooded mountain range; the Balkans
Balkar the ethnonym Balkar
Balkır glow, lightning
Barçın silk brocade
Barkan land named in the Oghuz epic
Barkın determined traveller
Barlas brave hero; historical tribal name
Baskın raid; superior, dominant
Bastık fruit leather
Başara success
Başbuğ chief, commander
Başkan leader, president
Başkır name of the Bashkir people
Başkut foremost fortune
Başman one at the head, leader
Başsan foremost in renown
Baştan from the beginning
Baştuğ leading standard
Batman old weight unit; place name
Batmaz unsinkable
Battal name of the epic hero Battal Gazi
Baydur name of a historical Mongol commander
Bayhan rich khan, noble ruler
Baykal name of Lake Baikal
Baykam noble shaman
Baykan wealthy lord; old Turkish name
Baylan coy, pampered
Bayrak flag, banner
Bayram festival, feast day
Baysak rich + alert
Baysal calm, serene
Baysan noble renown
Baysoy a rich, noble lineage
Baytar veterinarian
Baytok prosperous and content
Behçet beauty, radiance, joy
Bektaş old Turkic name: peer; sturdy stone
Belgin clear, distinct
Belgün clear, distinct
Bender port; Bender (fortress)
Benler moles, beauty spots
Berber barber
Berent sword
Berkan of sound mind; firm khan
Berkay strong moon
Berker strong, sturdy man
Berkin firm, strong
Berköz firm at the core
Besler he feeds, he provides
Beştaş five stones; the five-stone game
Beyhan lord and khan
Bezgin weary, listless
Bildik familiar, acquaintance
Bilgen knowing, learned
Bilgiç learned, knowledgeable
Bilgin scholar, learned
Bilici knowing one, knowledgeable
Bingöl a thousand lakes (place name)
Bingül a thousand roses
Binici rider, horseman
Birand one oath, a pledged word
Birant one oath
Bircan one and only beloved
Birdal a single branch
Birgül a single, unique rose
Birkan one lineage, pure blood
Birlik unity
Biryol one way
Boncuk bead
Boralı stormy
Bostan vegetable garden
Boşnak Bosniak
Boyacı dyer
Boyraz north-east wind
Boysan tall, handsome young man
Bozacı boza maker or seller
Bozbay grey lord; grey and rich
Bozbey the grey lord
Bozdağ grey mountain
Bozkır steppe
Bozyel grey wind
Buldan district in Denizli
Bulduk we found (him)
Burçak bitter vetch
Burgaz place name; ‘watchtower’

What does a 6-letter surname look like?

Six letters cover several kinds of name. Some are single two-syllable words with heavier syllables: Yıldız ‘star’, Arslan ‘lion’, Kaplan ‘tiger’. Others are short compounds in which each part keeps its own vowels, the best known being Öztürk, öz ‘pure’ plus türk. Yılmaz shows yet another pattern: a whole verb form used as a name, the negative aorist of yılmak.

Surnames of this length, in figures

The meanings are spread over 47 categories; the largest are “Built from Turkic name elements” (64), “Names of mountains, rivers and places” (39) and “Fortune, blessing and fame” (32). Turkic roots dominate (491 surnames, 71.5%); the rest come from Persian (90), Arabic (56), other languages (19), Greek (12), Mongolic (10), French (4), Armenian (3), Kurdish (2). By syllables, most have 2 syllables (473); 228 have 3 syllables and 1 have 4 syllables. The most frequent initials are B (91), A (87) and K (78). In vowel harmony, names with only back vowels lead (339) over front-vowel names (197); 167 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)