Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 226

Alican

Alican /aliˈdʒan/

“dear Ali”1

Letters / syllables
6 / 3
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
mixed
Initial
A
Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Alican?

Alican

IPA /aliˈdʒan/

The stress usually falls on syllable 3 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Alican mean?

Alican is a male name formed from Ali ‘exalted’, of Arabic origin, and can ‘soul, dear one’, a Persian loan: ‘dear Ali’. The element -can is often added to names in Turkish as a term of affection. Villages in Malatya and Muş carry the name.1,2

Grammar Ali (Arabic) + can (Persian).

That Alican goes back to Ali and can is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Alican made of?

Alican breaks into 2 parts: Ali (Ali: male name; Arabic ‘exalted’) + can (can: soul; dear one).

Alican + root Ali Ali: male name; Arabic‘exalted’ ARABIC Ali “exalted, high; male name” root can can: soul; dear one PERSIAN can “soul, life; dear” Alican Ali root Ali: male name; Arabic ‘exalted’ Ali ARABIC “exalted, high; male name” can root can: soul; dear one can PERSIAN “soul, life; dear”
Alican: parts and root words
  • Ali Arabic — exalted, high; male name1
  • can Persian — soul, life; dear2

How was the name Alican formed?

Alican belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (Ali + can).

Which surnames are related to Alican?

Alican Özcan Can Ercan Demircan Candan Tezcan Karacan Ali Babacan Gürcan Canpolat Arıcan
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Özcan same root 25 233,820
02 Can same root 27 230,085
03 Ercan same root – –
04 Demircan same root – –
05 Candan same root – –
06 Tezcan same root – –
07 Karacan same root – –
08 Ali same root – –
09 Babacan same root – –
10 Gürcan same root – –
11 Canpolat same root – –
12 Arıcan same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Alican?

  1. Ekrem Alican politician 1916–2000
  2. Fikri Alican physician 1929–2015
  3. Mustafa Alican historian 1982–

People surnamed Alican as recorded in Wikidata, ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions.

Is Alican also a first name?

Yes. Alican is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “dear Ali”.

Alican as a first name: meaning and statistics — turkiyenames.com →

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Alican accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: can accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Alican

Q1

What does the surname Alican mean?

Alican is a male name formed from Ali ‘exalted’, of Arabic origin, and can ‘soul, dear one’, a Persian loan: ‘dear Ali’. The element -can is often added to names in Turkish as a term of affection. Villages in Malatya and Muş carry the name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Alican?

The root word of Alican is Ali (Persian): “exalted, high; male name”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Alican?

A·li·can, 3 syllables; IPA: /aliˈdʒan/.