Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Surname index·Letter

Surnames beginning with İ

61 of the dictionary’s 3,450 surnames begin with İ (1.8%). None of them is in the national top 30 of TÜİK ADNKS 2025, so each is rarer than every name on that list.

Surnames
61
in this index
In the national top 30
0
ADNKS 2025

61 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order

  1. İbiş pet form of İbrahim; comic stage character
  2. İbrahim Ibrahim (Abraham)
  3. İbrahimoğlu son of İbrahim (Abraham)
  4. İçel İçel, former name of Mersin
  5. İçli sensitive, tender-hearted
  6. İçöz inner essence
  7. İdil the Volga; idyll
  8. İkizoğlu son of the twin
  9. İlbay governor, ruler of the land
  10. İldem remorseful
  11. İldiz star
  12. İleri forward, advanced
  13. İlgezdi he roamed the land
  14. İlgin tamarisk
  15. İlgün day of the homeland
  16. İlhan ruler of the realm
  17. İlkan firstborn; first khan
  18. İlkel primitive, original
  19. İlkin at first, first of all
  20. İlter short form of İlteriş
  21. İmamoğlu son of the imam
  22. İmre friend, companion; form of Emre
  23. İmren longing, admiration
  24. İnal trusted one; old Turkic title
  25. İnalcık trusted one
  26. İnan belief, trust
  27. İnanç faith, trust
  28. İnanır one who trusts
  29. İnanoğlu son of İnan
  30. İnce slender; refined
  31. İnceman slender, slight
  32. İnceoğlu son of the slender one
  33. İncesu thin stream
  34. İnci pearl
  35. İnkaya cave rock
  36. İnönü in front of the cave; İnönü town
  37. İpçioğlu son of the rope-maker
  38. İpek silk
  39. İpekçi silk maker or silk merchant
  40. İpekkaya silken rock
  41. İplikçi thread-maker, yarn seller
  42. İplikçioğlu son of the thread-maker
  43. İrem garden of paradise
  44. İris iris; rainbow
  45. İskender Alexander (given name)
  46. İskenderoğlu son of İskender (Alexander)
  47. İskit Scythian
  48. İslam Arabic islām; male given name
  49. İslamoğlu son of İslam
  50. İslimyeli from İslimye (Sliven)
  51. İsmail the name Ishmael: ‘God hears’
  52. İşcan hard-working soul
  53. İşeri capable, competent person
  54. İşlek busy, lively
  55. İşler hard-working, industrious
  56. İşleyen one who works
  57. İşsever hard-working
  58. İyidoğan good falcon; well-born
  59. İyigün good day, good days
  60. İzmirli from Izmir
  61. İzzet glory, honour

The letter İ in Turkish surnames

İ is the dotted i, the front unrounded close vowel [i], and in Turkish its capital keeps the dot: İnce, İpek, Istanbul. Native words such as ince ‘thin, fine’, ilk ‘first’, iyi ‘good’ and ipek ‘silk’ give names like İnce, İpek and İlkay ‘first moon’. Many İ-names rest on Arabic words and given names: İbrahim, İsmail, İmamoğlu (imam + oğlu). Software that ignores Turkish case rules capitalises i as I, which in Turkish is a different letter.

The surnames under this letter, in figures

The meanings are spread over 24 categories; the largest are “Patronymic -oğlu surnames” (9), “Virtue and integrity” (7) and “Heart, joy and hope” (5). Turkic roots dominate (45 surnames, 73.8%); the rest come from Arabic (9), Greek (3), Persian (2), French (1), other languages (1). On average they have 6.0 letters, shorter than the dictionary average of 6.3. The longest is İskenderoğlu (12 letters), the shortest İbiş, İçel and İçli and others (4). In vowel harmony, names with only front vowels lead (35) over back-vowel names (0); 26 mix the two, usually a sign of a compound or a loan.

By number of letters