Poyraz
A Turkish masculine name meaning "furious wind" or "tempestuous gale".
Name Census estimates that about 90 living Americans carry the first name Poyraz. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Poyraz today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Poyraz births was 2023 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Poyraz. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Poyraz. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
90
~ 1 in 3,808,382 Americans
Peak year
2023
11 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,629
Tracked since 2012
Popularity
Poyraz: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Poyraz from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 58 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Poyraz remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Poyraz by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Poyraz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Poyraz
The given name Poyraz finds its origins in the Turkish language. It is derived from the word "poyraz," which means "north wind" or "northerly wind" in Turkish. This name first came into use during the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over a vast territory spanning parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa from the 13th to the 20th century.
The name's connection to the northern wind likely stems from the nomadic traditions of the Turkic peoples, who revered the elements of nature and often drew inspiration from them when naming their children. The north wind, in particular, was seen as a powerful and influential force, and naming a child Poyraz may have been a way of bestowing upon them the qualities of strength, resilience, and endurance associated with this natural phenomenon.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Poyraz can be found in the 16th-century Ottoman travel journal "Seyahatname" by Evliya Çelebi, a renowned Ottoman explorer and traveler. In his writings, Çelebi mentions encountering individuals named Poyraz during his journeys across the Ottoman Empire.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Poyraz. One such individual was Poyraz Bey, a prominent military commander who served under the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in the 15th century. Poyraz Bey played a crucial role in the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 1453, which marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and the beginning of the Ottoman Empire's reign as a major world power.
Another notable bearer of the name was Poyraz Karayılan (born in 1949), a prominent Kurdish politician and former leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist organization in Turkey. Karayılan played a significant role in the Kurdish struggle for autonomy and self-determination in the latter half of the 20th century.
In the realm of literature, the name Poyraz was immortalized by the Turkish novelist Reşat Nuri Güntekin in his 1922 novel "Çalıkuşu" (The Wren). The main character, a young woman named Feride, is often referred to as "Poyraz" due to her free-spirited and independent nature, which was considered unorthodox for women at the time.
More recently, Poyraz Karayel, a Turkish actor born in 1987, has gained popularity for his roles in various television series and films, further increasing the visibility of the name in contemporary Turkish culture.
Overall, the name Poyraz has a rich history rooted in the Turkish language and culture, dating back to the Ottoman Empire. Its connection to the powerful northern wind has imbued it with connotations of strength, resilience, and a free spirit, qualities that have been embodied by various historical figures who have borne this name.
People
Poyraz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Poyraz as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Poyraz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Poyraz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 90 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Poyraz going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,808,382 US residents.
Is Poyraz a common name?
We classify Poyraz as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Poyraz most popular?
The single biggest year for Poyraz was 2023, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Poyraz is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Poyraz a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Poyraz in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.