Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Affix·57 surnames

Kara-

black; strong, great

Surnames
57
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
0
ADNKS 2025
Position
first element

What does Kara- mean?

Kara is a surname on its own as well. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 it ranks sixteenth with 290,024 bearers. This page, however, deals with surnames in which kara is the first element of a compound: Karakaya, Karataş, Karadağ and the like.

The basic meaning is a colour, ‘black’. But in Turkish kara does more than describe colour. In old names and titles it also means ‘strong, great, formidable’. The weight of kara kış ‘harsh winter’ comes from that sense. Which sense dominates in a given surname is often open. Karakaya can be ‘black rock’ or ‘massive, steep rock’. Both readings rest on the dictionary meaning.

Formally kara does not alternate. It is a free-standing two-syllable word and has no harmonic variants. When the second element begins with a vowel, the two vowels meet and both are written: Karaaslan. The semantic head is always the second element. A Karakuş is a bird and a Karabulut a cloud. The colour or strength sense qualifies that head.

The examples cover a wide field. Karataş is ‘black stone’ and Karadağ ‘black mountain’. Karabulut describes the dark cloud that brings rain. Karakuş is the dictionary name of a species of eagle. Karaaslan reads as ‘black lion’ and Karakoç as ‘black ram’. In Karademir, kara evokes both the colour and the hardness of iron. Karagöz means ‘black-eyed’; the same name belongs to the well-known hero of the shadow play. In Karabey the second element is the word bey.

There are look-alikes too. Karaman and Karadeniz began as compounds, but today they are place names. As surnames they are read first as places. Karaca is both a word for ‘darkish’ and the name of the roe deer, so its meaning has to be checked before any split. Kartal, Karpuz and Kardeş have nothing to do with kara; only the first letters match. One more caution concerns a homonym. The dictionary has a separate entry kara ‘land, as opposed to sea’. In surnames the colour reading is the accepted one, but the distinction is worth keeping in mind.

Sources1,2,3

What does Kara- do grammatically?

Meaning
black; strong, great
Function
Colour adjective as first element; besides 'black' it can carry 'strong, great, fierce'.

Which words does Kara- combine with?

first element Kara- black; strong, great + aslan lion Karaaslan + baba father; elder of a dervish or… Karababa + bacak leg Karabacak + budak branch, shoot; knot in wood Karabudak + bulut cloud Karabulut + can can: soul, life Karacan + çöl çöl: desert, barren land Karaçöl + dağ mountain Karadağ + deniz sea Karadeniz + doğan falcon; or born, rising Karadoğan + duman smoke; mist Karaduman + genç young Karagenç + han han: khan, ruler Karahan + hasan Hasan: personal name Karahasan Kara- black; strong, great + aslan Karaaslan + baba Karababa + bacak Karabacak + budak Karabudak + bulut Karabulut + can Karacan + çöl Karaçöl + dağ Karadağ + deniz Karadeniz + doğan Karadoğan + duman Karaduman + genç Karagenç + han Karahan + hasan Karahasan
Surnames built with Kara-, grouped by the other half (57 surnames, 57 groups). The tree shows the first 14 branches; 43 more are in the list below.

All surnames with Kara-

#SurnameMeaningOriginLetters
01 Karaali kara + Ali Arabic 7
02 Karaaslan black lion; mighty hero Turkic 9
03 Karababa kara + baba: ‘great father’ Turkic 8
04 Karabacak black-legged; nickname Turkic 9
05 Karabaş black-headed; sheepdog Turkic 7
06 Karabay mighty, wealthy lord Turkic 7
07 Karabekir ‘black’ Bekir Arabic 9
08 Karabıyık black-moustached Turkic 9
09 Karaböcek black beetle Turkic 9
10 Karabudak black branch; a Dede Korkut hero Turkic 9
11 Karabulut dark cloud Turkic 9
12 Karacan strong-souled; dark darling Persian 7
13 Karaçöl black desert, barren steppe Turkic 7
14 Karadağ black mountain Turkic 7
15 Karadağlı from Karadağ Turkic 9
16 Karadayı dark or stout uncle Turkic 8
17 Karademir black iron; iron-hard Turkic 9
18 Karadeniz the Black Sea Turkic 9
19 Karadoğan black falcon Turkic 9
20 Karaduman black smoke Turkic 9
21 Karaer mighty warrior; dark man Turkic 6
22 Karagenç dark young man Turkic 8
23 Karagöz dark-eyed Turkic 7
24 Karagülle black cannonball Persian 9
25 Karahan great, mighty khan Turkic 7
26 Karahasan “Dark Hasan” Arabic 9
27 Karaibrahimgil household of Kara İbrahim Arabic 14
28 Karaismailoğlu son of Kara İsmail Arabic 14
29 Karakaş black-browed Turkic 7
30 Karakaşlı black-browed Turkic 9
31 Karakaya black rock Turkic 8
32 Karakoç black ram Turkic 7
33 Karakoyun black sheep Turkic 9
34 Karakoyunlu with black sheep; a historical state Turkic 11
35 Karaköse former name of Ağrı; “dark beardless” Persian 8
36 Karakurt black wolf Turkic 8
37 Karakuş golden eagle (lit. black bird) Turkic 7
38 Karaküçük dark little one Turkic 9
39 Karaman Karaman (place name) Turkic 7
40 Karamustafa kara “dark, strong” + Mustafa Arabic 11
41 Karaoğlan dark-haired lad Turkic 9
42 Karaoğlanoğlu son of Karaoğlan Turkic 13
43 Karaoğlu son of Kara Turkic 8
44 Karaosmanoğlu son of Kara Osman Arabic 13
45 Karapınar Karapınar (place): “black spring” Turkic 9
46 Karasakal black beard Turkic 9
47 Karasapan black sling Turkic 9
48 Karasu black water; stream and place name Turkic 6
49 Karaşahin black hawk Persian 9
50 Karataş black stone Turkic 7
51 Karatay black colt Turkic 7
52 Karatekin mighty prince Turkic 9
53 Karatepe black hill Turkic 8
54 Karayalçın dark sheer cliff Turkic 10
55 Karayılan black snake Turkic 9
56 Karayiğit dark, strong hero Turkic 9
57 Karazor great strength Persian 7
The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.

Common questions

Does Kara- always mean ‘black’?

No. In old names and idioms it can also mean ‘strong, great, formidable’. Which sense a surname intends is often unclear.

Is Karaman a Kara- compound?

It may go back to a compound, but today it is a place name. As a surname it is read first as the name of the town and region.

What is a karakuş?

The dictionary gives it as the name of a species of eagle; the word is made of kara and kuş ‘bird’.

Sources

  1. 1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
  2. 2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
  3. 3Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)