Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Surname index·Letter

Surnames beginning with Ş

93 of the dictionary’s 4,813 surnames begin with Ş (1.9%). 2 of them are in the national top 30; the most common is Şahin, ranked 6th with 688,214 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). The other is Şimşek (20th).

Surnames
93
in this index
In the national top 30
21
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Şahin
688,214 people

93 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order

  1. Şabanyan son of Şaban
  2. Şafak dawn, daybreak
  3. Şahali Shah Ali
  4. Şahan hawk (dialect form)
  5. Şahar friend of the shah
  6. Şahbaz king of falcons; a gallant man
  7. Şahin hawk, buzzard #6
  8. Şahinbaş falcon-headed; chief of falcons
  9. Şahiner brave as a falcon
  10. Şahingöz hawk-eyed
  11. Şahinkaya falcon rock
  12. Şahinler hawks; the Şahins
  13. Şahinoğlu son of Şahin (“falcon”)
  14. Şahintürk falcon-like Turk
  15. Şakacı joker, jester
  16. Şakir thankful, contented
  17. Şakrak merry, chirpy
  18. Şal shawl
  19. Şallı wearing a shawl
  20. Şamdan candlestick
  21. Şamiloğlu son of Şamil
  22. Şamlı from Damascus
  23. Şamlıoğlu son of the man from Damascus
  24. Şan glory, renown
  25. Şanal win glory
  26. Şanlı glorious, renowned
  27. Şanlıer glorious man
  28. Şanlısoy glorious lineage
  29. Şanlıtürk glorious Turk
  30. Şansal spread your fame
  31. Şanver one who brings glory
  32. Şanverdi “gave glory”
  33. Şap alum
  34. Şar sound of running water
  35. Şarkdemir iron of the east
  36. Şaş bewildered
  37. Şaşmaz unerring, unswerving
  38. Şatıroğlu son of the ceremonial footman
  39. Şefkatlioğlu son of the compassionate one
  40. Şehitler martyrs; a village name
  41. Şeker sugar; sweet, charming
  42. Şekerci confectioner
  43. Şekercioğlu son of the confectioner
  44. Şekeroğlu son of Şeker (sugar)
  45. Şen cheerful, merry
  46. Şenalp cheerful hero
  47. Şenay cheerful moon
  48. Şencan cheerful soul
  49. Şendağ merry mountain
  50. Şendil cheerful-tongued, light-hearted
  51. Şenel happy land, cheerful people
  52. Şener cheerful man
  53. Şenerim my cheerful man
  54. Şeneş cheerful companion
  55. Şengezer cheerful wanderer
  56. Şengil the cheerful household
  57. Şengör may you see joy
  58. Şengöz merry eye
  59. Şengül cheerful rose
  60. Şengün happy day
  61. Şenkal stay happy
  62. Şenlendirici one who brings cheer
  63. Şenocak merry hearth, happy home
  64. Şenoğlu son of Şen
  65. Şenol “be cheerful!”
  66. Şenolsun may he be cheerful
  67. Şenova lively, flourishing plain
  68. Şenses cheerful voice
  69. Şensoy cheerful lineage
  70. Şentürk cheerful Turk
  71. Şentürker cheerful Turkish man
  72. Şenyurt cheerful homeland
  73. Şenyürek cheerful heart
  74. Şerbetçioğlu son of the sherbet maker
  75. Şeref honour, dignity
  76. Şereftuğ banner of honour
  77. Şeren agile
  78. Şerifoğlu son of Şerif (“noble”)
  79. Şevik compassionate
  80. Şevket majesty
  81. Şık chic, elegant
  82. Şimşek lightning flash #20
  83. Şimşekler lightning flashes
  84. Şimşir boxwood
  85. Şirin sweet, charming
  86. Şirinyan of the family of Şirin (‘sweet’)
  87. Şişman stout, plump
  88. Şişmanlar the stout ones
  89. Şişmanoğlu son of Şişman (‘stout’)
  90. Şit the name Şit (Seth); Azerbaijani “unsalted”
  91. Şoray face, countenance (Circassian name)
  92. Şükrü thankful, grateful
  93. Şükrüoğlu son of Şükrü

The letter Ş in Turkish surnames

Ş is the sound [ʃ], as in English ship. Few native Turkish words begin with it (şiş ‘skewer; swollen’ is one); most Ş-words are Persian or Arabic. Persian gave şah ‘king’, şeker ‘sugar’ and şahin, a kind of falcon and the source of the common surname Şahin; Arabic gave şan ‘glory’, the base of Şanlı. In plain ASCII Ş becomes s, which is why the address of this page ends in s-.

The surnames under this letter, in figures

The meanings are spread over 27 categories; the largest are “Heart, joy and hope” (20), “Patronymic -oğlu surnames” (14) and “Appearance, body and strength” (8). Turkic and borrowed roots are evenly matched: 46 Turkic against 46 from other languages: Arabic (22), Persian (18), Armenian (4), French (1), other languages (1). On average they have 6.6 letters, close to the dictionary average of 6.6. The longest are Şefkatlioğlu, Şenlendirici and Şerbetçioğlu (12 letters), the shortest Şal, Şan and Şap and others (3). By vowel harmony, names with mixed vowels form the largest group (39), which in surnames usually signals a compound or a loan; 24 have only back vowels and 30 only front vowels.

By number of letters

Sources

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