How is the surname Kökten built?

It is kök, “root”, plus the ablative suffix -ten: “from the root, radically”. TDK also gives it the sense “fundamental, deep-rooted”.

Are Çınar and Selvi Turkic words?

They are Turkish words today but both came from Persian: çınar from čenār, selvi from sarv. Meşe, kavak and söğüt are Turkic.

Is Karaçam only a surname?

No. TDK also lists it as the name of a pine species, the black pine, so the compound was in the language before it became a surname.

Category·Nature and landscape·78 surnames

Trees and forest

Surnames: 78; in this dictionary
In the national top 30: 0; ADNKS 2025

How did these surnames come about?

The surname Kökten does not end in a tree part. It ends in a case suffix. The ablative -ten has been added to kök, “root”, giving “from the root”, that is, “radically, thoroughly”. TDK also records the form as an adjective, “fundamental, deep-rooted”. An inflected form like this among surnames is a reminder that the names chosen in 1934 were not always bare dictionary words.

Tree names

At the core of the hub are tree species. Çınar is the plane tree, known for its long life and broad trunk; the word comes from Persian čenār. Meşe (oak), kavak (poplar) and söğüt (willow) are Turkic. Selvi, also servi, is the cypress, from Persian sarv; in classical Ottoman poetry it is the stock image for a beloved's upright figure. Ardıç is the juniper of mountain slopes. Çam, “pine”, is Turkic too, and it readily takes a colour element.

Tree parts and growth stages also belong here. Fidan is a sapling, and is used figuratively for a tall young person. Dal (branch), kök (root), orman (forest) and koru (grove) join the same set. Such words bring associations of long life, deep roots and growth. Which of these a family had in mind, if any, is not known.

Shape

Forms are usually plain: Çınar, Meşe, Fidan. In compounds a colour comes first: Karaçam “black pine”, Akçam “white pine”. Karaçam is also a TDK headword for a particular pine species, the black pine, so the compound existed before it was a surname. Vowel harmony is not required across a compound seam. Inside one word it still holds: kök has a front vowel, so the suffix is -ten, not -tan.

1934 and freedom of choice

Article 5 of the Surname Law states that an adult of sound mind is free to choose their surname. The law had listed the bans separately: names of ranks and offices, names of tribes, names of foreign races and nations, and names against public decency. Tree names fell under none of these. They were the kind of word that free choice could reach without friction.

Boundaries

Agent nouns in -CI for growers or sellers of fruit, such as Cevizci, belong to the trade hub. Flowers like gül and lale have their own category. Dut (mulberry) and ceviz (walnut) sit here when the tree, not the fruit, is meant.

One more detail. Çınar and Fidan are also given names. That a surname lives on as a given name says nothing about the family carrying it; it shows only that the word is liked in two different roles.

Sources^1,2,3

All surnames in this category

The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.
#	Surname	Meaning	Origin	Letters
01	Abanoz	ebony	Persian	6
02	Akbudak	white branch	Turkic	7
03	Akçam	white pine	Turkic	5
04	Akkiraz	white cherry	Greek	7
05	Altındal	golden branch	Turkic	8
06	Anar	pomegranate (Persian); remembers	Persian	4
07	Ardıç	juniper	Turkic	5
08	Ardıçoğlu	son of Ardıç (juniper)	Turkic	9
09	Artuç	juniper	Turkic	5
10	Badem	almond	Persian	5
11	Bademsoy	almond lineage	Turkic	8
12	Bedük	big (old form); resin	Turkic	5
13	Birdal	a single branch	Turkic	6
14	Budak	shoot; knot in wood	Turkic	5
15	Ceviz	walnut	Arabic	5
16	Cevizci	walnut seller or grower	Arabic	7
17	Cevizoğlu	son of Ceviz (walnut)	Arabic	9
18	Çam	pine	Turkic	3
19	Çambel	pine-covered pass	Turkic	6
20	Çamcı	pine-wood or resin worker	Turkic	5
21	Çamdalı	pine branch	Turkic	7
22	Çamkerten	pine-notcher	Turkic	9
23	Çamkıran	pine-breaker	Turkic	8
24	Çamlıbel	pine-covered pass	Turkic	8
25	Çamlıca	pine-covered place; place name	Arabic	7
26	Çınar	plane tree	Persian	5
27	Çıvgın	young shoot, twig	Turkic	6
28	Çubuk	twig, rod	Turkic	5
29	Dal	branch	Turkic	3
30	Dallı	branched	Turkic	5
31	Darcan	tree of life	Persian	6
32	Deliorman	region on the Lower Danube; ‘wild forest’	Turkic	9
33	Dinçkök	vigorous root	Turkic	7
34	Döngel	medlar; spinning top	Turkic	6
35	Döngeloğlu	medlar + -oğlu	Turkic	10
36	Elma	apple	Turkic	4
37	Elmaağaçlı	with apple trees	Turkic	10
38	Erik	plum, plum tree	Turkic	4
39	Fındık	hazel, hazelnut	Arabic	6
40	Fındıklı	place of hazelnuts; a district of Rize	Arabic	8
41	Fidan	sapling	Greek	5
42	Gürdal	lush, vigorous branch	Turkic	6
43	Hızarcı	sawyer	Armenian	7
44	İlgin	tamarisk	Turkic	5
45	Karaağaç	elm tree	Turkic	8
46	Karabudak	black branch; a Dede Korkut hero	Turkic	9
47	Karaçam	black pine	Turkic	7
48	Kavak	poplar tree	Turkic	5
49	Kavakçı	poplar grower	Turkic	7
50	Kavaklı	poplar-grown, with poplars	Turkic	7
51	Kıpçak	the historical Kipchaks	Turkic	6
52	Kızılcık	cornelian cherry	Turkic	8
53	Kiraz	cherry	Greek	5
54	Kirazcı	cherry seller or grower	Greek	7
55	Kirazoğlu	cherry + -oğlu	Greek	9
56	Koru	grove	Turkic	4
57	Kozak	pine cone; coquette		5
58	Kozlu	with walnuts; district in Zonguldak	Persian	5
59	Kozluca	walnut place (village name)	Persian	7
60	Kök	root, origin; or sky	Turkic	3
61	Köknar	fir tree	Greek	6
62	Köksal	take root	Turkic	6
63	Köksalan	one who takes root	Turkic	8
64	Köksoy	deep-rooted lineage	Turkic	6
65	Kökten	from the root, radical	Turkic	6
66	Kütük	log, tree stump	Greek	5
67	Oduncu	woodcutter	Turkic	6
68	Orman	forest	Turkic	5
69	Özbudak	the tree’s own shoot	Turkic	7
70	Özdal	true branch	Turkic	5
71	Sandal	sandalwood	Arabic	6
72	Sazak	strong wind; reed bed; myrtle	Turkic	5
73	Selvi	cypress	Persian	5
74	Söğüt	willow	Turkic	5
75	Şimşir	boxwood	Persian	6
76	Tuğba	Ṭūbā, the tree of paradise	Arabic	5
77	Tut	hold! or mulberry	Turkic	3
78	Zeytinoğlu	son of Zeytin (olive)	Arabic	10

Common questions

How is the surname Kökten built?: It is kök, “root”, plus the ablative suffix -ten: “from the root, radically”. TDK also gives it the sense “fundamental, deep-rooted”.
Are Çınar and Selvi Turkic words?: They are Turkish words today but both came from Persian: çınar from čenār, selvi from sarv. Meşe, kavak and söğüt are Turkic.
Is Karaçam only a surname?: No. TDK also lists it as the name of a pine species, the black pine, so the compound was in the language before it became a surname.

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)