Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,593

Günal

Günal /ɟyˈnaɫ/ ASCII Gunal

“red sun, glowing day”1

Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
1934 coinage
Vowel harmony
mixed
Initial
G
Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Abroad
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Günal?

Günal

IPA /ɟyˈnaɫ/

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

What does the surname Günal mean?

Formed from gün “sun, day” and al. Taking al as the colour “red”, the name means “red sun”, the glow of dawn or sunset. Taking it as the imperative of almak “to take”, it becomes a wish name, “take the sun, seize the day”.1,2

Grammar gün + al; al is either the colour adjective or the imperative of almak.

That Günal goes back to gün and al is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Günal made of?

Günal breaks into 2 parts: gün (gün: sun; day) + al (al: red; or imperative of almak).

Günal + first element gün gün: sun; day TURKIC gün “sun; day” root al al: red; or imperative ofalmak TURKIC al “red, crimson” Günal gün first element gün: sun; day gün TURKIC “sun; day” al root al: red; or imperative of almak al TURKIC “red, crimson”
Günal: parts and root words
  • gün Turkic — sun; day1
  • al Turkic — red, crimson2

How was the name Günal formed?

Günal belongs to the “1934 coinage” class of surnames (gün + al).

Which surnames are related to Günal?

Günal Güngör Güner Akgün Günay Güney Ergün Gündoğdu Aygün Günaydın Gün Gündoğan Şengün
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Güngör same root – –
02 Güner same root – –
03 Akgün same root – –
04 Günay same root – –
05 Güney same root – –
06 Ergün same root – –
07 Gündoğdu same root – –
08 Aygün same root – –
09 Günaydın same root – –
10 Gün same root – –
11 Gündoğan same root – –
12 Şengün same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Günal?

  1. Melike Günal weightlifter 1998–
  2. Mehmet Nazif Günal businessperson 1948–
  3. Sultan Günal-Gezer politician 1961–
  4. Abdülsamet Günal amateur wrestler 1988–
  5. Mehmet Günal politician 1964–
  6. Tülay Günal film actor 1970–
  7. Neşet Günal painter 1923–2002
  8. Halil Ata Günal basketball official

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

Is Günal also a first name?

Yes. Günal is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “red sun, glowing day”.

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

How is Günal written and pronounced abroad?

In databases without Turkish characters it usually appears as Gunal.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: gün accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: al 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
  5. 5 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Günal

Q1

What does the surname Günal mean?

Formed from gün “sun, day” and al. Taking al as the colour “red”, the name means “red sun”, the glow of dawn or sunset. Taking it as the imperative of almak “to take”, it becomes a wish name, “take the sun, seize the day”.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Günal?

The root word of Günal is gün (Turkic): “sun; day”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Günal?

Gü·nal, 2 syllables; IPA: /ɟyˈnaɫ/.