Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 772

Bakan

Bakan /baˈkan/

“one who tends; minister”1

Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
From a verb
Vowel harmony
back
Initial
B
Contents§1–§9
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7Sources
  8. §8Questions
  9. §9Related

How do you pronounce Bakan?

Bakan

IPA /baˈkan/

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

What does the surname Bakan mean?

Bakan is the participle of bakmak: “one who looks, who looks after, who tends”. In the language reform the same form was coined for “minister”, replacing Ottoman nazır. No source shows which sense the surname comes from.1

Grammar bak- + -an; participle.

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

  1. The participle of bakmak in the sense “one who tends, looks after”.
  2. The language-reform word bakan “minister”, coined to replace nazır (en.wiktionary).

Bakan is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Bakan made of?

Bakan is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: bak- (bakmak: to look; to look after) + -an (participle suffix).

Bakan + root bak- bakmak: to look; to lookafter TURKIC bakan “minister; coined in thelanguage reform as a…” suffix -an participle suffix Bakan bak- root bakmak: to look; to look after bakan TURKIC “minister; coined in the languagereform as a calque of Arabic…” -an suffix participle suffix
Bakan: parts and root words
  • bakan Turkic — minister; coined in the language reform as a calque of Arabic nāẓir (bak- + -an)1

How was the name Bakan formed?

Bakan was formed by adding the suffix -an (“participle suffix”) to the verb stem bak- (“bakmak: to look; to look after”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.4

Which surnames are related to Bakan?

Bakan Yerebakan Gökbakar Yoksulabakan Bakış
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Yerebakan same root – –
02 Gökbakar same root – –
03 Yoksulabakan same root – –
04 Bakış same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Bakan?

  1. Seda Bakan actor 1985–
  2. Serkan Bakan association football player 2001–
  3. Murat Bakan politician 1972–
  4. Muhammed Emin Bakan association football player 1984–
  5. Ahmet Bakan researcher
  6. Ayşe Berivan Bakan researcher
  7. Ebubekir Bakan researcher
  8. Feray Bakan researcher

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: bakan accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: bakan 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

Common questions about Bakan

Q1

What does the surname Bakan mean?

Bakan is the participle of bakmak: “one who looks, who looks after, who tends”. In the language reform the same form was coined for “minister”, replacing Ottoman nazır. No source shows which sense the surname comes from.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Bakan?

The root word of Bakan is bakan (Turkic): “minister; coined in the language reform as a calque of Arabic nāẓir (bak- + -an)”. There are 3 competing views on where Bakan comes from, all set out on this page.
Q3

How do you pronounce Bakan?

Ba·kan, 2 syllables; IPA: /baˈkan/.