Tek

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Teck in MY Malaysia, SG Singapore, US United States and 8 more, เต็ก in TH Thailand and Teik in NL Netherlands.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 6 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Tek is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Turkish surname46K records spelled Tek7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye

  Also written T'Ek, Tèk, Ťêk, Têk, Ték

• Malay name7.2K records spelled Tek4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia

  Also written Ték, Tėk

• French surname2.1K records spelled Tek7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France

  Also written Ték, Têk, Țěķ, ́tek, Tèk

• Korean surname366 records spelled Tek56 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Korea, India, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Korean, English, Hindi

  Also written Tak, 탁, Taek, 택기, 택

• a separate name319 records spelled Tek4 spellings in the group

  Also written ̧Tek, Tęk, ̨tek

• a separate name318 records spelled Tek13 spellings in the group

  Also written Тек, Tech

38 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Tek is also recorded in 6 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In cdo, the pair all disheveled, to trim, to pare off, to peel, (miéng) to pare sugar-cane

  as a word·Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect

• In English, Pronunciation spelling of take, representing dialectal English.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In sib, pieces that have already been cut (as in cutting sugarcane)

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

• In Icelandic, first-person singular active present indicative of taka

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In non, first-person singular present active indicative of taka

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In mqy, imitation of the sound of something falling

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 96 years between 1913–2017. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Gan Deb. 400not in their usual name4th-century BC Chinese astronomer and astrologer
• Empress Xiaogongrenb. 1660CNnot in their usual nameQing Dynasty empress (of Emperor Kangxi); mother of Yongzheng Emperor
• Vedat Tekb. 1873TRTurkish architect (1873–1942)
• Ahmet Ferit Tekb. 1878TRTurkish diplomat and statesperson (1878–1971)
• Wu Lien-tehb. 1879MYnot in their usual nameMalaysian physician (1879–1960)
• Zhu Deb. 1886CNnot in their usual nameMarshal of the People's Republic of China (1886－1976)
• Otto Braunb. 1900DEnot in their usual nameGerman communist writer (1900–1974)
• Deniz Tekb. 1952USTurkish-Australian musician (born 1952)
• Zhang Dib. 1968CNnot in their usual nameChinese judoka
• Stephen Fungb. 1974CNnot in their usual nameHong Kong actor, singer and filmmaker (born 1974)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 224 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Tek?

We estimate roughly 1.8 thousand people bear Tek (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Tek have the most bearers?

Tek is most frequently recorded in Pakistan, where it is most often spelled tek.

How common is Tek compared with other names?

In Malaysia, Tek is the 129th most common given name of 325,158 given names recorded there.

What does the name Tek mean?

Recorded meaning: From Ottoman Turkish تك (tek, “unique; alone”), from Proto-Turkic *tēk.