Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,266

Gürkan

Gürkan /ɡyɾˈkan/ ASCII Gurkan

“of vigorous blood”1

Letters / syllables
6 / 2
Formation
Compound
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 Gürkan?

Gürkan

IPA /ɡyɾˈkan/

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

What does the surname Gürkan mean?

A male given name built from gür “abundant, vigorous” and kan, commonly read as “of vigorous blood, of strong stock”. In some names the element -kan is also linked to the titles han and kağan.1,2

Grammar Compound gür + kan.

That Gürkan goes back to gür and kan is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Gürkan made of?

Gürkan is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: gür (gür: abundant, vigorous) + kan (kan: blood, lineage; in some names khan).

Gürkan ++ first element gür gür: abundant, vigorous TURKIC gür “abundant, vigorous” suffix kan kan: blood, lineage; insome names khan TURKIC kan “blood; lineage” Gürkan gür first element gür: abundant, vigorous gür TURKIC “abundant, vigorous” kan suffix kan: blood, lineage; in some nameskhan kan TURKIC “blood; lineage”
Gürkan: parts and root words
  • gür Turkic — abundant, vigorous1
  • kan Turkic — blood; lineage2

How was the name Gürkan formed?

Gürkan was formed by adding the suffix kan (“kan: blood, lineage; in some names khan”) to gür (“gür: abundant, vigorous”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.7

Which surnames are related to Gürkan?

Gürkan Özkan Gürsoy Alkan Arıkan Gür Gürel Kandemir Gürses Atakan Gürsel Gürcan Gürler
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Özkan same root 22 245,254
02 Gürsoy same root – –
03 Alkan same root – –
04 Arıkan same root – –
05 Gür same root – –
06 Gürel same root – –
07 Kandemir same root – –
08 Gürses same root – –
09 Atakan same root – –
10 Gürsel same root – –
11 Gürcan same root – –
12 Gürler same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Gürkan?

  1. Aydın Güven Gürkan politician 1941–2006
  2. Fatoş Gürkan politician 1966–
  3. Recep Gürkan politician 1964–
  4. Emrah Safa Gürkan researcher 1981–
  5. Selma Gürkan politician 1961–
  6. Aytek Gürkan basketball player 1957–
  7. Haşmet Muzaffer Gürkan writer 1932–1992
  8. Alp Gürkan businessperson 1938–

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

Is Gürkan also a first name?

Yes. Gürkan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “of vigorous blood”.

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

How is Gürkan written and pronounced abroad?

English-language records usually print Gürkan as Gurkan, dropping the diacritics.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: gür accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: kan accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikipedi: Gürkan accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Gürkan accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: gür accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  9. 9 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Gürkan

Q1

What does the surname Gürkan mean?

A male given name built from gür “abundant, vigorous” and kan, commonly read as “of vigorous blood, of strong stock”. In some names the element -kan is also linked to the titles han and kağan.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Gürkan?

Gürkan is made up of two elements: gür “abundant, vigorous” (Turkic) and kan “blood; lineage” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Gürkan?

Gür·kan, 2 syllables; IPA: /ɡyɾˈkan/.