Davran

§1How do you pronounce Davran?

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

§2What does the surname Davran mean?

Nişanyan Adlar equates Davran with Devran and, like Felek, explains it as ‘the wheel of the sky, the turning of the years’. Devran comes from Arabic dawarān ‘revolving, cycle; fate’; in Eğirdir the tomb of Feleküddin Dündar Bey, one of the Hamidid lords, is popularly called Devran Dede. On its surface the name can also be read as the imperative of davranmak, ‘act, get moving’.^3,4

Grammar On the Devran reading, an Arabic verbal noun (from dāra ‘it turned’); on the verb reading, davran-: imperative, second person singular.

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

1. A form of Devran: Arabic dawarān ‘cycle, fate’, equivalent in meaning to Felek (Nişanyan Adlar, Nişanyan Sözlük).
2. Imperative of davranmak ‘act, get moving’; the verb goes back to Old Turkic tavran- ‘to move quickly and briskly’ (Nişanyan Sözlük, davran-).

§3What is Davran made of?

Davran combines Arabic and Turkic elements in 1 parts: Davran (devran ‘the turning heavens, the cycle of time’; or the imperative of davranmak).

• devran Arabic — revolution, cycle; figuratively fate, the age³
• davranmak Turkic — to set about, take action; to behave⁴

§4How was the name Davran formed?

Davran is the word Davran (“devran ‘the turning heavens, the cycle of time’; or the imperative of davranmak”), taken unchanged as a surname.

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.⁶

§5Who are some well-known people named Davran?

1. Cem Davran actor 1964–
2. Keriman Davran opera singer 1936–2015
3. Yalçın Davran opera singer 1932–
4. Mehmet Davran film producer
5. Müge K Davran researcher
6. Necdet Davran lawyer 1917–
7. Tuğba Davran-Candan researcher
8. Yunus Emre Davran association football player

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

§6Is Davran also a first name?

Yes. Davran is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: the turning heavens; or ‘get moving’.

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

§8Common questions about Davran

Q1

What does the surname Davran mean?

Nişanyan Adlar equates Davran with Devran and, like Felek, explains it as ‘the wheel of the sky, the turning of the years’. Devran comes from Arabic dawarān ‘revolving, cycle; fate’; in Eğirdir the tomb of Feleküddin Dündar Bey, one of the Hamidid lords, is popularly called Devran Dede. On its surface the name can also be read as the imperative of davranmak, ‘act, get moving’.

Q2

What is the origin of the surname Davran?

The root word of Davran is davranmak (Turkic): “to set about, take action; to behave”. There are 3 competing views on where Davran comes from, all set out on this page.

Q3

How do you pronounce Davran?

Dav·ran, 2 syllables; IPA: /davˈɾan/.