2026 Baby Boy Names in Turkey: Trending, Modern and Meaningful

Which boy names will Turkish parents choose most often in 2026? Nobody can answer that with numbers yet. TÜİK, Turkey's official statistics institute, publishes each year's baby-name list only after the year is over, so there is no official 2026 list. What we do have is something more solid: eight years of official registrations, from 2018 to 2025. In this article we use those records to show which names are entering 2026 with momentum, which are holding their ground and which are quietly fading.

How we built this selection

• Source: TÜİK's top 30 boy names for each year from 2018 to 2025, with the number of babies registered under each name.
• Rising names: names whose count grew from 2023 to 2025. The change percentages in the tables compare these two years.
• Newcomers: names that entered the top 30 for the first time, or returned to it, in the last two years.
• Classics and decliners: names present in all eight lists, and names whose numbers dropped markedly.

We give no 2026 figures or rank forecasts for any name. The "strong candidates for 2026" are simply names whose direction has been upward in recent years; the tables contain only recorded data.

Rising names: Metehan, Miran, Kuzey and more

In absolute numbers, the biggest gain of the last two years belongs to Metehan. The name entered the top 30 in 2019 and has been given to a few more babies every year since: 3,681 in 2023, 5,379 in 2025, which puts it in 3rd place. In percentage terms, the fastest-growing name is Miran, and its story is a comeback: it was 8th in 2019, slipped back, and has climbed again since 2023 to reach 6th place in 2025. Kuzey ("north") moved from 27th to 13th, entering the top half of the list.

Further down the table the picture is calmer but steady. Atlas entered the list in 2022 and Aybars in 2023, and both have grown every year since. Aslan also entered in 2023; after a jump in 2024 it eased back somewhat in 2025 but stayed above its 2023 level. Göktuğ has increased every year since it entered the list in 2020 and has been in second place since 2024.

Newcomers and returning names

The two freshest names on the 2025 list are Cihan and Yaman. Neither appeared in any list from 2018 to 2024; both entered the top 30 for the first time in 2025. Emir took a different path: it was 9th in 2018, declined over the years, dropped out of the list in 2023 and came back in 2024.

A dash in the table means the name was not in that year's top 30, not that no baby received it. All three names are short, two-syllable names, and their meanings complement each other: Cihan means the world, Emir a commander, and Yaman skill and bravery.

Nature or history? Two currents in recent years

Looking at recent boy names in Turkey, two clear currents stand out. One carries wind, direction, trees and sky: Kuzey, Poyraz, Ayaz, Çınar and Atlas. The other carries the voice of early Turkic history and epic language: Alparslan, Aybars and Metehan. We placed Atlas in the nature group because of its associations with the Titan who holds up the sky and with books of maps. Aybars is not the name of a specific historical figure, but it is built from the old Turkic words "ay" (moon) and "bars" (leopard) and has a strongly epic ring.

The result is interesting: both groups have grown every year since 2023. The nature group changed by +8.8%, the history group by +4.7%. Over the same period, the total number of babies in TÜİK's top 30 list went from 105,938 in 2023 to 96,667 in 2025 (−8.8%; the 2023 list contains 31 names because of a tie). In other words, these two currents are taking a larger share of a shrinking pie. Inside the history group there is also a handover: Alparslan is still number one, but its count changed by −16.0%, and the group's growth is carried by Metehan and Aybars. In the nature group, Kuzey, Atlas and Poyraz are rising while Çınar and Ayaz are slipping slightly.

The two groups through the lens of Abjad

The table shows a striking split: every nature name falls between 19 and 254, while the history names start at 274 and reach 1096 with Metehan. The secret lies in the letters: the letter خ (kha) in Metehan is worth 600 on its own. Ayaz, by contrast, is made of small-value letters: أ (1) + ي (10) + ا (1) + ز (7) = 19. Ayaz has the lowest and Metehan the highest Abjad value on the 2025 list.

Yet a high or low value does not make a name "better". In the Abjad tradition the real question is not what a name is on its own, but what combination it forms with the mother's and father's names. The same name Kuzey may complete a missing element in one family and further weight an already dominant balance in another.

Long-running classics: at the top, but cooling down

Alparslan, Yusuf, Kerem, Ömer Asaf, Ömer and Aras appeared in all eight lists from 2018 to 2025, and in 2025 they are still in the top 10. Alparslan has been number one for four years since 2022; Yusuf was number one four years in a row from 2018 to 2021. Most of these names are slowly losing numbers, but their places in the ranking remain solid. For families looking for a familiar, deep-rooted name that every generation knows, this group is a safe harbour.

Declining names: Eymen, Miraç, Muhammed

Some names that were at the top a few years ago show a clear decline. Eymen was second in 2018 and 2019; in 2025 it fell to 17th place. Miraç was second in 2020 and 11th in 2025. The counts for Mustafa and Mehmet have fallen every year since 2018. Muhammed and Muhammed Ali dropped out of the top 30 in 2025.

An important note: decline does not mean these names are rarely given. Even in 2024, Muhammed was given to 2,922 babies; leaving the top 30 only describes its position in the ranking. Muhammed and Mehmet are also written the same way in Arabic script (محمد), so their Abjad value is identical: 92. These names keep their meaning and their deep-rooted place regardless of trend lists.

Quick questions

What will be the number one boy name of 2026?

No one can say that with numbers today. What we know: Alparslan has been at the top for four years, while Göktuğ and Metehan have narrowed the gap over the last two years.

Is choosing a trending name a disadvantage?

No. Just keep in mind that there may be several children with the same name in one class: Metehan was given to 5,379 baby boys in 2025.

Do rising names have a "stronger" Abjad value?

No. An Abjad value has nothing to do with popularity; it is the sum of the letters in the name's Arabic-script spelling. Whether a name suits a family is read together with the parents' names, and a child's yildizname (the "star book") comes from the total of the child's own name and the mother's name.

Final word

For a family looking for a name in 2026, the data points to two paths: rising names such as Metehan, Miran, Kuzey and Atlas, or classics such as Yusuf, Kerem and Ömer that have stayed on the list for eight years. Whichever you choose, considering the name's meaning, its sound and its harmony with your family's names together matters more than its place on a list.

Source: TÜİK, Population Statistics Portal — Most Common Baby Names (nip.tuik.gov.tr). The figures show baby boys registered under each name in the given year.

Note: Abjad values are a traditional calculation; they do not mean that a name determines destiny or guarantees any outcome. This article is for information only.