Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

Affix·114 surnames

Öz-

own; pure, genuine, true

Surnames
114
in this dictionary
In the national top 30
44
ADNKS 2025
Most common
Öztürk
People
586,8314
Öztürk
Position
first element

What does Öz- mean?

Two of Türkiye’s ten most common surnames begin with the same element. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Öztürk ranks eighth with 586,831 bearers and Özdemir tenth with 556,378. Both open with öz.

Öz is an ordinary Turkish word. The Güncel Türkçe Sözlük gives it the senses ‘self, own’, ‘pure, unmixed’ and ‘essence, core’. We list it as a prefix, but grammatically it is the first word of a compound. It therefore never changes shape under vowel harmony: it is always öz. Harmony is not enforced across the compound boundary either. Öztürk has only front vowels, while Özkan combines a front and a back vowel. Any case ending added later follows the last element alone, as in Özkan’ın or Özdemir’in.

Its job is to qualify. Öz marks the second element as ‘genuine, unmixed, true’. The meaning rests on that second element. An Özdemir is a kind of demir ‘iron’, an Özkaya a kind of kaya ‘rock’. On this site the subject category of the surname follows the second element too.

Typical examples read like this. Öztürk is ‘true Turk’. Özdemir is ‘pure iron’ and Özçelik ‘pure steel’. Özkaya means ‘true rock, solid rock’, Özsoy ‘true lineage’ and Özyurt ‘one’s own homeland’. In Özcan the second element is can ‘soul, life’, a word Turkish took from Persian, so the surname means ‘one’s own soul’. The kan of Özkan is usually read as ‘blood, lineage’. Some writers connect it with the title han ‘khan’ instead; that link is disputed.

The 1934 regulation on surnames, the Soyadı Nizamnamesi, states in Article 5 that new surnames are taken from the Turkish language. Öz is exactly the kind of short, transparent Turkish element that fits this rule. That does not mean every Öz- surname was formed in that year. A date for a particular name needs its own source.

Not every surname that starts with these two letters is a compound. Özel ‘special, private’, Özen ‘care’, Özlem ‘longing’, Özge ‘other’, Özgün ‘original’ and Özgül ‘specific’ are dictionary words and are not split. Özgür ‘free’ is also a headword. The TDK traces it to öz plus gür, yet as a surname it is treated as one word. Özbek is the name of a people and is not öz plus bek.

Sources1,2,3,4

What does Öz- do grammatically?

Meaning
own; pure, genuine, true
Function
Compounding element placed before a noun or adjective; qualifies the second element as 'genuine, pure, true'.

Which words does Öz- combine with?

first element Öz- own; pure, genuine, t… + türk Turk Öztürk + demir iron; figuratively strong, ha… Özdemir + kan blood; lineage Özkan + can soul, life; dear one Özcan + acar bold, energetic Özacar + ak white; clean, spotless Özak + akıncı akıncı: raider, light cavalry… Özakıncı + al red Özal + alp hero, valiant Özalp + arslan arslan: lion Özarslan + aslan lion; brave man Özaslan + ata father, ancestor Özata + ay moon; radiant Özay + aydın bright; enlightened Özaydın Öz- own; pure, genuine, true + türk Öztürk + demir Özdemir + kan Özkan + can Özcan + acar Özacar + ak Özak + akıncı Özakıncı + al Özal + alp Özalp + arslan Özarslan + aslan Özaslan + ata Özata + ay Özay + aydın Özaydın
Surnames built with Öz-, grouped by the other half (114 surnames, 114 groups). The tree shows the first 14 branches; 100 more are in the list below.

54 more groups (54 surnames) are in the full list below and on the following pages.

Which of them are most common?

  1. 8 Öztürk 586,831
  2. 10 Özdemir 556,378
  3. 22 Özkan 245,254
  4. 25 Özcan 233,820
Members in the national top 30, people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025).

All surnames with Öz-

#SurnameMeaningOriginRankLetters
01 Öztürk true Turk, genuine Turk Turkic 8 6
02 Özdemir pure iron; firm as iron Turkic 10 7
03 Özkan of pure blood, of good stock Turkic 22 5
04 Özcan pure soul; dear to the heart Persian 25 5
05 Özacar truly daring Arabic – 6
06 Özak pure at heart Turkic – 4
07 Özakın true raid Turkic – 6
08 Özakıncı true raider Turkic – 8
09 Özakman öz + Akman (pure, clean) Turkic – 7
10 Özal 1934 name from öz and al Turkic – 4
11 Özalp true hero, noble hero Turkic – 5
12 Özarı pure at heart Turkic – 5
13 Özarslan true lion Turkic – 8
14 Özaslan a true lion Turkic – 7
15 Özat true name Turkic – 4
16 Özata one’s true forefather Turkic – 5
17 Özatay öz + Atay (ancestor + moon) Turkic – 6
18 Özateş true fire Persian – 6
19 Özay pure moon Turkic – 4
20 Özaydın truly bright Turkic – 7
21 Özbakır pure copper Turkic – 7
22 Özbal pure honey Turkic – 5
23 Özbaş true leader Turkic – 5
24 Özbay true gentleman Turkic – 5
25 Özbayraktar true standard-bearer Turkic – 11
26 Özben the true self Turkic – 5
27 Özberk truly strong, firm at heart Turkic – 6
28 Özbey true lord, noble chief Turkic – 5
29 Özbilen one who knows the essence Turkic – 7
30 Özbilgin true scholar Turkic – 8
31 Özbir one at heart; unique Turkic – 5
32 Özbudak the tree’s own shoot Turkic – 7
33 Özçelik pure steel Turkic – 7
34 Özçimen pure meadow Turkic – 7
35 Özçivit true indigo Turkic – 7
36 Özçoban true shepherd Persian – 7
37 Özdağ true mountain Turkic – 5
38 Özdağlar one’s own mountains Turkic – 8
39 Özdal true branch Turkic – 5
40 Özdamar of true stock Turkic – 7
41 Özdaş true stone Turkic – 5
42 Özdemiroğlu son of Özdemir Turkic – 11
43 Özdil pure language, own tongue Turkic – 5
44 Özdilek heartfelt wish Turkic – 7
45 Özdoğan true falcon; born true Turkic – 7
46 Özer true man, genuine hero Turkic – 4
47 Özercan Özer + can ‘soul’ Persian – 7
48 Özeren true saint, genuine hero Turkic – 6
49 Özerk autonomous; own might Turkic – 5
50 Özev one’s own home Turkic – 4
51 Özgan true blood, pure lineage Turkic – 5
52 Özgenç young at heart Turkic – 6
53 Özgökçe pure sky-blue; lovely Turkic – 7
54 Özgüç true strength Turkic – 5
55 Özgümüş pure silver Turkic – 7
56 Özgüner öz + the name Güner Turkic – 7
57 Özhan true khan Turkic – 5
Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.4

Common questions

What does the surname Öztürk mean?

It joins öz ‘genuine, unmixed’ with Türk and means ‘true Turk’.

Are Özgür and Özel also Öz- compounds?

No. Both are dictionary headwords in their own right: Özel means ‘special, private’ and Özgür ‘free’. As surnames they are read as single words.

Does Öz- change with vowel harmony?

No. Because öz is an independent word, it stays the same in Özkan and in Öztürk alike.

Sources

  1. 1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
  2. 2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
  3. 3T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
  4. 4Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)