Türkiye Naming Customs

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Turkey

Personal Names

Understanding customs used in surnames and given names can help you identify your ancestors in records. Learn to recognize name variations and see clues in names.

Online Tools

• Behind the Name: Turkish Surnames
• Behind the Name: Turkish Given Names
• Category:Turkish masculine given names
• Category:Turkish feminine given names
• Category:Turkish unisex given names

Surnames

Naming Customs

Naming customs in Turkey present a problem for family history research. Until the twentieth century, most Turks had no surnames. They followed the Islamic custom of using one name, given at birth, relying on a patronymic or a word indicating some special attribute for more precise identification. In most registers only given names and patronymic are given. In 1934, an edict was issued requiring all Turks to take family names.