Surname index·Letter
Surnames beginning with N
Only 31 surnames begin with N, 0.9% of all entries, which makes it one of the rarer initials. None of them is in the national top 30 of TÜİK ADNKS 2025, so each is rarer than every name on that list.
- Surnames
- 31
- in this index
- In the national top 30
- 0
- ADNKS 2025
31 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order
- Nadi one who calls out
- Nadir rare
- Naki clean, pure
- Nalbant farrier
- Nalbantoğlu son of the farrier
- Nalçakan farrier
- Namlı famous, renowned
- Namoğlu son of renown
- Narin slender, delicate
- Nas explicit ruling, clear text
- Nasır helper, victorious
- Nasuhoğlu son of Nasuh
- Navruz Nowruz, spring festival
- Nayır bright one; a star name
- Nazif clean, pure
- Nazlı coy, delicate, cherished
- Nazmi order; male name
- Nebioğlu son of Nebi
- Necipoğlu son of Necip
- Nergis narcissus
- Nergiz narcissus
- Nersesyan son of Nerses
- Nızam order, system
- Noyan lord, commander
- Nuhoğlu son of Nuh (Noah)
- Numan blood, blood colour
- Numanoğlu son of Numan
- Nur light, radiance
- Nurhan lord of light
- Nuri luminous (given name)
- Nutku his speech
The letter N in Turkish surnames
Very few native Turkish words begin with n; the main group is ne ‘what’ and its derivatives such as nere ‘where’ and niçin ‘why’. Most N-words are loans: nur ‘light’ from Arabic, nazik ‘polite’ and nalbant ‘farrier’ from Persian. N-surnames are correspondingly rare, and those that exist usually rest on such loans or on Arabic given names like Nuri and Necati.
The surnames under this letter, in figures
One category stands out by meaning: “Patronymic -oğlu surnames”, with 13 surnames, ahead of “Crafts: metal, wood, stone and leather” (3). Borrowed roots are in the majority here: Arabic (18), Persian (8), Mongolic (2), Armenian (1), against 2 Turkic. On average they have 6.0 letters, shorter than the dictionary average of 6.3. The longest is Nalbantoğlu (11 letters), the shortest Nas and Nur (3). In vowel harmony, names with only back vowels lead (19) over front-vowel names (2); 10 mix the two, usually a sign of a compound or a loan.