Can Turkish surnames be used as given names?

That statement is not strictly true. Turkish naming law and common practice place restrictions but do not make an absolute rule that surnames can never be used as given names.

Key points:

• Turkish Civil Code (and the related regulations administered by the Population and Citizenship Affairs Directorate) governs personal names. The authorities review proposed given names to ensure they are not contrary to public order, humiliating, absurd, or clearly non-Turkish in a way that would cause problems; historically they also prevented names that suggested foreign nationalities or titles.

• In practice many Turkish family names (soyadlar) are also used as given names. Examples frequently encountered include Deniz, Yavuz, Kaya, Tunç, Barış, Çağdaş, Sarp, Kürşad, and others that function both as surnames and first names.

• There are constraints on choosing given names that duplicate certain reserved categories (e.g., titles, ranks) or that are otherwise prohibited by the registrar. If a proposed given name is identical to an existing surname that would create some legal or social problem, officials could refuse it, but this is case-by-case, not a blanket ban.

• Cultural practice matters: some names are commonly only surnames or only given names, and families may avoid using a well-known family name as a first name for stylistic or familial reasons.

If you need authoritative, current legal details (for name registration, changing a name, or whether a particular surname can be used as a given name), consult the Population and Citizenship Affairs Directorate or a Turkish civil-law lawyer, since specific decisions can depend on circumstances and administrative practice.