Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 253

Altan

Altan /aɫˈtan/

“golden; red dawn”2

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
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Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8As a first name
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Altan?

Altan

IPA /aɫˈtan/

The stress usually falls on syllable 2 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Altan mean?

Two explanations are common for Altan. One takes it as Mongolian altan, “gold, golden”, from the same root as Turkish altın. The other analyses it as Turkish al, “red”, plus tan, “dawn”: “red dawn”. It is used as a given name for both women and men.2,3

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

  1. From Mongolian altan “golden”.
  2. A Turkish compound al “red” + tan “dawn”: “red dawn”.

What is Altan made of?

Altan is a single root: Altan (Mongolian altan “golden”; or al + tan “red dawn”).

Altan + root Altan Mongolian altan “golden”;or al + tan “red dawn” MONGOLIC altan “Mongolian: gold, golden” TURKIC tan “dawn” Altan Altan root Mongolian altan “golden”; or al + tan“red dawn” altan MONGOLIC “Mongolian: gold, golden” tan TURKIC “dawn”
Altan: parts and root words
  • altan Mongolic — Mongolian: gold, golden2
  • tan Turkic — dawn3

How was the name Altan formed?

Altan belongs to the “plain noun” class of surnames.

Which surnames are related to Altan?

Altan Tan Taner Ertan Aktan Tanyeri Tansel Kızıltan Tandoğan Göktan Öztan Tanyeli Tankut
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Tan same root – –
02 Taner same root – –
03 Ertan same root – –
04 Aktan same root – –
05 Tanyeri same root – –
06 Tansel same root – –
07 Kızıltan same root – –
08 Tandoğan same root – –
09 Göktan same root – –
10 Öztan same root – –
11 Tanyeli same root – –
12 Tankut same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Altan most common?

Altan is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 28th in Aksaray.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray · rank 28 · 1,431 people Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 1
  • Not listed
Altan: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Aksaray281,431

Who are some well-known people named Altan?

  1. Ahmet Altan writer 1950–
  2. Çetin Altan politician 1927–2015
  3. Mehmet Altan writer 1953–
  4. Kâmil Altan association football player 1924–2011
  5. Kaan Altan musician 2000–
  6. Bülent Altan engineer 1977–
  7. Orhan Altan athletics competitor 1934–2007
  8. Sinem Altan musician 1985–

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

Is Altan also a first name?

Yes. Altan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “golden; red dawn”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

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

Common questions about Altan

Q1

What does the surname Altan mean?

Two explanations are common for Altan. One takes it as Mongolian altan, “gold, golden”, from the same root as Turkish altın. The other analyses it as Turkish al, “red”, plus tan, “dawn”: “red dawn”. It is used as a given name for both women and men.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Altan?

The root word of Altan is altan (Mongolic): “gold, golden”. There are 3 competing views on where Altan comes from, all set out on this page.
Q3

How do you pronounce Altan?

Al·tan, 2 syllables; IPA: /aɫˈtan/.