Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,047

Çoban

Çoban /tʃoˈban/ ASCII Coban

“shepherd”2

Province lists
111
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
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Contents§1–§12
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8As a first name
  9. §9Abroad
  10. §10Sources
  11. §11Questions
  12. §12Related

How do you pronounce Çoban?

Çoban

IPA /tʃoˈban/

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

What does the surname Çoban mean?

A çoban is a shepherd, who grazes and guards flocks of sheep and goats. The word comes from Persian çūpān and reaches back to ancient Iranian languages. The surname reflects a family living from herding in village and highland life.2

Çoban is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Çoban made of?

Çoban is a single root: çoban (shepherd).

Çoban root çoban shepherd PERSIAN çūpān “shepherd” Çoban çoban root shepherd çūpān PERSIAN “shepherd”
Çoban: parts and root words
  • çūpān Persian — shepherd2

How was the name Çoban formed?

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

Which surnames are related to Çoban?

Çoban Çobanoğlu Çobanlı Özçoban
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Çobanoğlu same root – –
02 Çobanlı same root – –
03 Özçoban same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Çoban most common?

Çoban is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 11 provinces; its best rank is 17th in Denizli.1

Adana Adıyaman · rank 29 · 2,283 people Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya · rank 24 · 1,321 people Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın · rank 23 · 3,242 people Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis · rank 23 · 1,099 people Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli · rank 17 · 3,618 people Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir · rank 28 · 855 people Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa · rank 27 · 4,159 people Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla · rank 17 · 4,272 people Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat · rank 23 · 2,281 people Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa · rank 20 · 9,679 people Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan · rank 21 · 486 people Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 11
  • Not listed
Çoban: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Şanlıurfa209,679
02Muğla174,272
03Manisa274,159
04Denizli173,618
05Aydın233,242
06Adıyaman292,283

Who are some well-known people named Çoban?

  1. Kenan Çoban actor 1975–
  2. Merve Çoban karateka 1993–
  3. Ayşegül Çoban weightlifter 1992–
  4. Mehmet Çoban amateur wrestler 1905–1969
  5. Özgün Çoban actor 1985–
  6. Ali Çoban association football player 1955–2014
  7. Arif Çoban association football player 1984–
  8. Burak Çoban association football player 1994–

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

Is Çoban also a first name?

Yes. Çoban is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “shepherd”.

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

How is Çoban written and pronounced abroad?

In passports and records outside Turkey Çoban is usually written Coban.

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 Wiktionary: çūpān accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: çoban 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 Çoban

Q1

What does the surname Çoban mean?

A çoban is a shepherd, who grazes and guards flocks of sheep and goats. The word comes from Persian çūpān and reaches back to ancient Iranian languages. The surname reflects a family living from herding in village and highland life.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çoban?

The root word of Çoban is çūpān (Persian): “shepherd”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çoban?

Ço·ban, 2 syllables; IPA: /tʃoˈban/.