Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 878

Cankurtaran

Cankurtaran /dʒankuɾtaˈɾan/

“life-saver, lifeguard”1

Letters / syllables
11 / 4
Formation
From a verb
Vowel harmony
back
Initial
C
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 Cankurtaran?

Cankurtaran

IPA /dʒankuɾtaˈɾan/

The stress usually falls on syllable 4 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Cankurtaran mean?

Cankurtaran means ‘life-saver’; dictionaries give ‘lifeguard’ at a beach or pool and ‘ambulance’. Nişanyan Adlar notes that the word was used for ‘ambulance’ in the first half of the 20th century and is the name of a quarter of Istanbul. Can is from Persian jān ‘life’; kurtarmak ‘to save’ is Turkish.1

Grammar can + kurtar- + -an (present participle).

Cankurtaran is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Cankurtaran made of?

Cankurtaran breaks into 3 parts: can (can: life) + kurtar- (kurtarmak: to save) + -an (-an: present participle).

Cankurtaran ++ root can can: life PERSIAN can “life, soul” root kurtar- kurtarmak: to save TURKIC kurtarmak “to save, rescue” suffix -an -an: present participle Cankurtaran can root can: life can PERSIAN “life, soul” kurtar- root kurtarmak: to save kurtarmak TURKIC “to save, rescue” -an suffix -an: present participle
Cankurtaran: parts and root words
  • can Persian — life, soul1
  • kurtarmak Turkic — to save, rescue1

How was the name Cankurtaran formed?

Cankurtaran belongs to the “from a verb” class of surnames (can + kurtar- + -an).

Which surnames are related to Cankurtaran?

Cankurtaran Özcan Can Ercan Demircan Candan Tezcan Karacan Babacan Gürcan Canpolat Arıcan Caner
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 Babacan same root – –
09 Gürcan same root – –
10 Canpolat same root – –
11 Arıcan same root – –
12 Caner same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Cankurtaran?

  1. Emin Cankurtaran businessperson 1930–2009
  2. Ceylân Cankurtaran researcher
  3. Eylem Şahin Cankurtaran researcher
  4. Mustafa Cankurtaran researcher

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: cankurtaran accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 nisanyanadlar.com nisanyanadlar.com: Cankurtaran accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: cankurtaran 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 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Cankurtaran

Q1

What does the surname Cankurtaran mean?

Cankurtaran means ‘life-saver’; dictionaries give ‘lifeguard’ at a beach or pool and ‘ambulance’. Nişanyan Adlar notes that the word was used for ‘ambulance’ in the first half of the 20th century and is the name of a quarter of Istanbul. Can is from Persian jān ‘life’; kurtarmak ‘to save’ is Turkish.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Cankurtaran?

The root word of Cankurtaran is can (Turkic): “life, soul”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Cankurtaran?

Can·kur·ta·ran, 4 syllables; IPA: /dʒankuɾtaˈɾan/.