Turhan
Noble or highborn, a Turkish name of Persian origin.
Name Census estimates that about 234 living Americans carry the first name Turhan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Turhan today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Turhan births was 1946 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Turhan. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Turhan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
234
~ 1 in 1,464,762 Americans
Peak year
1946
13 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2021 SSA rank
#8,771
Tracked since 1944
Census
Turhan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 296 people with the first name Turhan, which placed it at #29,744 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,744
National first-name rank
People counted
296
296 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Turhan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Turhan is Black at 58.1%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Turhan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Turhan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.1% · 172
- White19.9% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.1% · 30
- Two or more races6.8% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Turhan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Turhan from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 75 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Turhan 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 Turhan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Turhans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Turhan
The name Turhan is of Turkish origin, derived from the Persian words "tur" meaning "brave" or "powerful" and "han" meaning "leader" or "ruler." It is believed to have originated during the Ottoman Empire period in the 14th to 20th centuries.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Turhan appeared in the 16th century as the name of a prominent Ottoman military commander, Turhan Pasha, who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1638 to 1640. He played a significant role in the Ottoman military campaigns and was known for his bravery and leadership skills.
Another notable figure with the name Turhan was Turhan Sultan, the wife of Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim I. Born in 1627, she was a influential figure in the Ottoman court and played a crucial role in the succession of her son, Mehmed IV, to the throne after Ibrahim's death in 1648.
In the 19th century, Turhan Pasha Vahyi (1801-1848) was a renowned Ottoman poet and writer known for his contributions to the Divan literature. His works, including the celebrated "Divan-ı Vahyi," showcased his mastery of the Turkish language and poetic traditions.
Another notable figure with the name Turhan was Turhan Bey (1901-1990), a Turkish actor and director who had a successful career in both Turkish and Hollywood films. He appeared in several notable films, including "The Son of the Sheik" (1926) alongside Rudolph Valentino, and "The Mummy" (1932) with Boris Karloff.
In more recent history, Turhan Feyzioğlu (1923-2003) was a prominent Turkish politician and statesman who served as the President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from 1977 to 1980. He played a significant role in the political landscape of Turkey during a turbulent period in the country's history.
While the name Turhan has its roots in the Ottoman Empire and Turkish culture, it has also been adopted by individuals from various backgrounds and cultures over time, reflecting the diverse and rich history associated with this name.
People
Turhan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Turhan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Turhan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Turhan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 234 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Turhan 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 1,464,762 US residents.
Is Turhan a common name?
We classify Turhan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Turhan most popular?
The single biggest year for Turhan was 1946, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Turhan is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Turhan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 296 people with the name Turhan, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,744 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Turhan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Turhan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Turhan appears almost entirely male. Of the 296 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Turhan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Turhan is Black at 58.1%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Turhan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Turhan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.1% (172 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Turhan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Turhan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Turhan 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.
Is Turhan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Turhan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Turhan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Turhan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.