Most Popular Boy Names in Turkey in 2025 (TÜİK) and Their Meanings

Alparslan was once again the name most often given to baby boys born in Turkey in 2025. According to the list published by TÜİK, Turkey's official statistics institute, 7,509 babies received the name, making it number one for the fourth year in a row. What stands out even more is who follows: Göktuğ in second place and Metehan in third. All three top spots are held by names that reach back into Turkish history or old Turkic culture, and once you add Aybars, now up to 18th, a shared story emerges.

Below you will find the 30 most popular boy names of 2025 with their meanings, origins, Arabic spellings and Abjad values. After that we follow the "historic" names at the top through the years, look at what changed compared with 2024, and see what the numbers say from an Abjad point of view.

The 30 most given boy names in Turkey in 2025

The counts are TÜİK's official figures, compiled from births registered in 2025. Meanings and origins follow common dictionary usage; the Arabic spelling and Abjad value are given according to the standard Abjad (ebced-i kebîr) system.

Source: TÜİK, Population Statistics Portal — Most Given Baby Names (nip.tuik.gov.tr).

History at the top: how four names climbed

What sets this list apart is that names with historical and epic associations now occupy the very top. The chart below shows the rank of four names in TÜİK's lists since 2018; for comparison we have added Yusuf, the long-time leader. A "—" means the name did not make the top 30 that year.

Alparslan: from 30th place to four years in first

Alparslan is the name of the Great Seljuk sultan remembered for the victory at Manzikert (Malazgirt) in 1071. It combines "alp" (brave) and "arslan" (lion). Historical sources also record that the sultan's given name was Muhammad. The name entered the list in 2018 in 30th place with 2,645 babies, rose to second in 2021 and has been first since 2022. Its count peaked in 2023 at 8,941; in 2025 it fell by 7.0% compared with the previous year. It still leads, but its margin over Göktuğ shrank from 2,396 babies in 2024 to 1,480 in 2025.

Göktuğ: the sky-blue standard

Göktuğ is not the name of a historical person but a compound of two old words. In old Turkic, "gök" means both sky and blue, while "tuğ" is the standard carried in Turkic states as a sign of sovereignty and rank. The name entered the list in 2020 in 22nd place and climbed higher every year until 2024. In 2025 it held second place with 6,029 babies and was one of the few top-10 names whose count grew (6.3%).

Metehan: the steadiest climb

Metehan carries the name of Mete Han, the Hun ruler known in Chinese sources as Modu. The origin and reading of "Mete" are debated; "han" (khan) is a Turkic title for a ruler. Metehan shows the most regular rise on the chart: 27th in 2019, it climbed every single year without a setback and reached third place in 2025. In the last year its count rose by 13.1% to 5,379, overtaking Yusuf.

Aybars: the young riser

Aybars is made of "ay" (moon) and "bars" (leopard). Names of strong animals were common in old Turkic naming, and the same "bars" appears in the name of the Mamluk sultan Baybars. Aybars entered the top 30 in 2023 in 28th place; in 2025 it jumped seven places to 18th with 2,727 babies.

Together these four names were given to 21,644 babies in 2025, roughly 22.4% of the top-30 total. For comparison: Yusuf, number one in the 2018–2021 lists, is now fourth (4,616 babies).

What changed from 2024 to 2025?

• Biggest jump: Kuzey. Up ten places from 23rd to 13th, with 18.1% more babies.
• Up eight places: Yiğit (24 → 16) and Çınar (28 → 20). Miran rose six places into the top 10 (12 → 6), and Atlas entered the top 10 for the first time (13 → 9).
• New entries: Cihan (2,154) and Yaman (2,121), both in the top 30 for the first time since 2018.
• Dropped out: Muhammed (15th in 2024) and Muhammed Ali (20th) are not in the 2025 list.
• Steepest fall: Eymen. Down from 10th to 17th, with 23.7% fewer babies. Second in 2018 with 8,301 babies, it stood at 2,799 in 2025. Aslan also slipped from 7th to 12th.
• Total: The top 30 together went from 101,247 to 96,667 babies (about 4.5% fewer), and most names on the list were given to fewer babies than a year earlier.

Through the Abjad window: what do the numbers say?

In the Abjad tradition every letter has a numerical value, and a name's value is the sum of the letters in its Arabic spelling. The values in this list range from 19 to 1096, and no two names in the table share a value. A few details stand out:

• Two names above 1000: Göktuğ (1061) and Metehan (1096). In Göktuğ, 1000 of the value comes from a single letter, the ghayn (غ) at the end of "tuğ". In Metehan, khā (خ = 600) and tā (ت = 400) together make 1000.
• The lightest name is Ayaz (19): alif, yā, alif and zāy are all low-value letters.
• A consecutive trio: Atlas (100), Eymen (101) and Yaman (102). Three names with entirely different roots and meanings sit side by side in Abjad.
• What the historic names share: According to the classical letter classification used in our reports, all four have their centre of weight in Earth letters. Earth letters carry about 69% of the value in Alparslan, 94% in Göktuğ, 55% in Metehan and 73% in Aybars. (Some authors classify the letters' elements differently.)

A note on spelling: Turkish names are not written the same way in Arabic script in every source. The first letter of Göktuğ, for example, can be written گ or ك; both count as 20 in Abjad, so the value stays the same. With other names, however, a different letter can change the value.

Quick Q&A: is a popular name a compatible name?

Is the number-one name the best choice?
No. The ranking only shows how many families chose the same name, and a name's Abjad value alone is not an analysis either.

So what is the real question?
In the Abjad tradition a name is not read on its own but together with the family's names. Göktuğ's Earth-heavy structure may complete the balance in one family, yet strengthen an element that already dominates in another. Which applies depends on how the letters are distributed in the mother's and father's names.

Does the child's star chart (yıldızname) depend on the name too?
In the traditional yıldızname calculation, the child's name is counted together with the mother's name. That is why the same name can point to a different sign and element for children of different mothers.

Alparslan, Göktuğ, Metehan or Aybars: if one of these names speaks to you, looking at it alongside your family's names can give your decision a new perspective. And if you have not settled on a name yet, you can start with a list of suggestions built from the mother's and father's names.

Note: Counts and ranks are taken from TÜİK's official data. Name meanings are common dictionary meanings; Arabic spellings may vary by source. Abjad values and element interpretations are for information and rest on the Abjad tradition; they imply no certainty or guarantee.