Where does the surname Can come from?

Can comes from Persian jān, “soul, life”. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 Can ranks 27th nationally with 230,085 bearers.

What does Özcan mean?

It joins öz, “true, pure”, with can, “soul”. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 Özcan ranks 25th with 233,820 bearers.

How is Coşkun derived?

It is coşmak, “to overflow”, plus -GUn: “exuberant, enthusiastic”.

Category·Character, virtue and appearance·195 surnames

Heart, joy and hope

Surnames: 195; in this dictionary
In the national top 30: 2⁴; ADNKS 2025
Most common: Özcan
People: 233,820⁴; Özcan

How did these surnames come about?

Can comes from Persian jān, “soul, life”. In Turkish it means “life, spirit” and is also a term of endearment: canım, “my dear”. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025, Can ranks 27th nationally with 230,085 bearers. Özcan, which joins öz with can, ranks 25th on the same list with 233,820. A small curiosity: the compound Özcan sits slightly above the bare Can.

Can and its compounds

Can is used in surnames both alone and as the last element of compounds. In forms such as Özcan “true soul” and Akcan “pure soul”, can carries the meaning. In some names, such as Ercan, the can element is also recorded on its affix page. Several of these compounds are common given names as well.

Gönül and the feelings

Gönül is an old Turkish word for “heart, inner self, affection”. Sevgi (love), sevinç (joy) and sevim (likeability) derive from the verbs sevmek and sevinmek; Sevinç is sevin- plus -ç. Coşkun comes from coşmak, “to overflow, get excited”, with -GUn: “exuberant, enthusiastic”. These words show the step from an action to a quality or a feeling.

Joy, hope and peace

Mutlu, “happy”, is mut, “happiness”, plus -lu. Şen means “cheerful, merry”; sources give different accounts of the word's origin. Umut, “hope”, is a Turkish word meaning the expectation that something will happen. Barış, “peace”, is a noun from the verb barışmak, “to make peace”. Huzur, “peace of mind”, is of Arabic origin. Özlem, “longing”, comes from özlemek.

Form and limits

Most words here are built with suffixes that turn verbs into nouns or adjectives: -ç (Sevinç), -GUn (Coşkun), -(I)ş (Barış), -lU (Mutlu). Vowel harmony sets each suffix's shape. Yürekli belongs to the courage hub because its sense is bravery. Luck and fame words such as Uğur, Kutlu and Şanlı have their own hub. Özlem, Sevgi and Umut are also given names; here they are treated as surnames.

1934 and after

Article 7 of the Surname Law gave two years to report a surname. Under Article 10, anyone wishing to change their surname after that period fell under the Civil Code. In other words, a name chosen in 1934 could later be changed only through the courts. Once entered in the register, a surname like Mutlu or Umut was passed on from one generation to the next.

Why it is interesting

Emotion surnames turn words for the inner life into permanent family names. That Can and Özcan both sit in the national top thirty shows how well liked this small word is as a surname.

Sources^1,2,3,4

Which of them are most common?

25 Özcan 233,820
27 Can 230,085

Members in the national top 30, people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025).

All surnames in this category

Rank: TÜİK ADNKS 2025 national top 30. The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.⁴
#	Surname	Meaning	Origin	Rank	Letters
01	Özcan	pure soul; dear to the heart	Persian	25	5
02	Can	soul, life; dear one	Persian	27	3
03	Abasıyanık	lovesick, “whose cloak is burnt”	Turkic	–	10
04	Akbayram	bright festival	Persian	–	8
05	Akcan	white dear, pure soul	Persian	–	5
06	Akşener	pure, cheerful man	Turkic	–	7
07	Alican	dear Ali	Persian	–	6
08	Alkış	blessing, praise; applause	Turkic	–	5
09	Andaç	keepsake, memento	Turkic	–	5
10	Arcayürek	pure-hearted	Turkic	–	9
11	Arıcan	pure of soul	Persian	–	6
12	Armağan	gift, present	Persian	–	7
13	Arman	wish, longing	Persian	–	5
14	Arzuman	eager, desirous	Persian	–	7
15	Aşkın	surpassing; loving	Turkic	–	5
16	Atacan	devoted to one’s forefathers	Persian	–	6
17	Ateşin	fiery, ardent	Persian	–	6
18	Ateşli	fiery, passionate	Persian	–	6
19	Aycan	dear moon	Persian	–	5
20	Aydilek	moon + wish	Turkic	–	7
21	Babacan	fatherly, good-hearted	Turkic	–	7
22	Bağrıaçık	open-breasted	Turkic	–	9
23	Bahtiyar	happy, fortunate	Persian	–	8
24	Barış	peace	Turkic	–	5
25	Bayar	joy, festivity	Mongolic	–	5
26	Baysal	calm, serene	Turkic	–	6
27	Behçet	beauty, radiance, joy	Arabic	–	6
28	Bese	enough	Kurdish	–	4
29	Bildik	familiar, acquaintance	Turkic	–	6
30	Bircan	one and only beloved	Persian	–	6
31	Biricik	one and only, beloved	Turkic	–	7
32	Bulduk	we found (him)	Turkic	–	6
33	Canan	beloved	Persian	–	5
34	Canberk	sturdy of soul	Turkic	–	7
35	Canbolat	steel-souled	Persian	–	8
36	Canbulat	steel soul	Persian	–	8
37	Candan	sincere, heartfelt	Persian	–	6
38	Candemir	iron-souled, enduring	Turkic	–	8
39	Caner	warm-hearted, beloved man	Turkic	–	5
40	Canıtez	hasty, impatient	Turkic	–	7
41	Canpolat	soul of steel	Persian	–	8
42	Cansever	one who loves life and people	Turkic	–	8
43	Cansu	soul + water	Turkic	–	5
44	Cansun	you are dear	Persian	–	6
45	Cantekin	dear prince	Turkic	–	8
46	Cantürk	Turk at heart	Turkic	–	7
47	Civelek	lively, merry, sociable	Persian	–	7
48	Coşan	surging, exuberant	Turkic	–	5
49	Coşar	elated, exuberant	Turkic	–	5
50	Coşkan	ebullient, enthusiastic	Persian	–	6
51	Coşkun	exuberant, enthusiastic	Turkic	–	6
52	Coşkuner	exuberant man	Turkic	–	8
53	Çekim	attraction, appeal	Turkic	–	5
54	Darcan	tree of life	Persian	–	6
55	Demircan	iron-strong soul	Persian	–	8
56	Derman	remedy, cure; strength	Persian	–	6
57	Deva	remedy, cure	Arabic	–	4
58	Dilek	wish	Turkic	–	5
59	Diler	one who wishes	Turkic	–	5
60	Dirican	living soul, lively	Persian	–	7
61	Dirlik	livelihood, peace	Turkic	–	6
62	Dost	friend	Persian	–	4
63	Durdu	he stayed, he lived	Turkic	–	5
64	Durgun	calm, still	Turkic	–	6
65	Duyar	sensitive, perceptive	Turkic	–	5
66	Duygulu	sensitive, full of feeling	Turkic	–	7
67	Emre	companion or beloved	Persian	–	4
68	Ercan	spirited, fearless man	Persian	–	5
69	Erdost	brave friend	Persian	–	6
70	Erinç	peace of mind, contentment	Turkic	–	5
71	Erke	energy, power	Turkic	–	4
72	Erşen	cheerful brave man	Armenian	–	5
73	Evin	love; kernel, essence	Kurdish	–	4
74	Girgin	sociable, outgoing	Turkic	–	6
75	Gökcan	dear sky	Persian	–	6
76	Gönlüm	my heart	Turkic	–	6
77	Gönül	heart, soul	Turkic	–	5
78	Gönültaş	heart-stone; kindred spirit	Turkic	–	8
79	Gördüm	I saw	Turkic	–	6
80	Görsev	see and love	Turkic	–	6
81	Gülcan	a beloved soul, rose-like	Persian	–	6
82	Güldüren	one who makes others laugh	Turkic	–	8
83	Güleç	always smiling	Turkic	–	5
84	Güleçyüz	smiling face	Turkic	–	8
85	Gülen	smiling	Turkic	–	5
86	Güler	smiling, laughing	Turkic	–	5
87	Gülersoy	cheerful lineage	Turkic	–	8
88	Güleryüz	smiling face	Turkic	–	8
89	Gülüm	my rose	Persian	–	5
90	Güral	lively, enthusiastic	Turkic	–	5
91	Gürcan	full of life	Persian	–	6
92	Güven	trust, reliability	Turkic	–	5
93	Güvenç	trust, confidence	Turkic	–	6
94	Güvenir	one who trusts	Turkic	–	7
95	Habib	beloved, friend	Arabic	–	5
96	Halil	beloved, close friend	Arabic	–	5
97	Hayat	life	Arabic	–	5
98	İçli	sensitive, tender-hearted	Turkic	–	4

Common questions

Where does the surname Can come from?: Can comes from Persian jān, “soul, life”. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 Can ranks 27th nationally with 230,085 bearers.
What does Özcan mean?: It joins öz, “true, pure”, with can, “soul”. In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 Özcan ranks 25th with 233,820 bearers.
How is Coşkun derived?: It is coşmak, “to overflow”, plus -GUn: “exuberant, enthusiastic”.

Sources

1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
3T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
4Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)