Turki
A masculine Arabic name meaning "belonging to the Turkish people".
Name Census estimates that about 134 living Americans carry the first name Turki. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Turki today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Turki births was 2014 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Turki. 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 Turki with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
134
~ 1 in 2,557,868 Americans
Peak year
2014
23 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,764
Tracked since 2010
Census
Turki in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 191 people with the first name Turki, which placed it at #39,504 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
#39,504
National first-name rank
People counted
191
191 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Turki
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Turki is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (14.1%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Turki 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 Turki at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.7% · 156
- Two or more races14.1% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 3
Popularity
Turki: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Turki 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 108 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Turki 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 Turki 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 Turki
The name Turki originates from the Turkish language, which is a Turkic language spoken primarily in Turkey and parts of the Balkans, Cyprus, and the Levant. The name is derived from the ethnonym "Turk," which refers to the Turkic peoples who migrated from Central Asia to Anatolia in the 11th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Turki can be traced back to the Ottoman Empire, where it was a popular name among the ruling class and the elite. It was often given to sons of sultans and high-ranking officials as a symbol of their Turkish heritage and affiliation with the ruling dynasty.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Turki was Turki I, the second Bey of the Karamanid dynasty, who ruled from 1277 to 1301. He was known for his military conquests and expansion of the Karamanid territory in Anatolia.
Another prominent figure was Turki Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and military leader who lived in the 16th century. He served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and played a crucial role in the conquest of Rhodes in 1522.
In the 19th century, Turki Pasha al-Abbasi was a prominent Arab leader who led the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule in Syria and Iraq. He was born in 1810 and played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of the region during that time.
Moving forward, Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, born in 1934, was a member of the Saudi royal family and served as the head of the Saudi intelligence agency from 1977 to 2001. He played a crucial role in Saudi foreign policy and was instrumental in establishing the kingdom's close ties with the United States.
Finally, Turki Al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, born in 1945, is a Saudi prince and diplomat who served as the Saudi Ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom. He has also held various other prominent positions within the Saudi government and is known for his efforts in promoting dialogue and understanding between the Arab world and the West.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who bore the name Turki, showcasing its long-standing cultural and historical significance in the Turkish and Arab regions.
People
Turki + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Turki 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
Turki: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Turki?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 134 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Turki 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 2,557,868 US residents.
Is Turki a common name?
We classify Turki as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Turki most popular?
The single biggest year for Turki was 2014, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Turki is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Turki in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 191 people with the name Turki, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,504 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 Turki 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 Turki?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Turki appears almost entirely male. Of the 190 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Turki?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Turki is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (14.1%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Turki most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Turki in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (156 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 Turki in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Turki a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Turki 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 Turki still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Turki 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 Turki 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 Turki?
Find out how many people have the name Turki on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.