Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,835

Kaplan

Kaplan /kapˈɫan/

“tiger”2

Province lists
161
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
6 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
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Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Provinces
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Kaplan?

Kaplan

IPA /kapˈɫan/

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

What does the surname Kaplan mean?

Kaplan is the tiger, the great striped predator. Proto-Turkic *kaplan meant both “leopard” and “tiger”; it is linked to kapmak, “to snatch, seize”, and shares its ending with aslan and yılan. As a name it symbolises strength and daring.2

Kaplan is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Kaplan made of?

Kaplan is a single root: kaplan (tiger).

Kaplan root kaplan tiger TURKIC kaplan “tiger; in older usagealso leopard” Kaplan kaplan root tiger kaplan TURKIC “tiger; in older usage alsoleopard”
Kaplan: parts and root words
  • kaplan Turkic — tiger; in older usage also leopard2

How was the name Kaplan formed?

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

Where in Türkiye is Kaplan most common?

Kaplan is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 16 provinces; its best rank is 8th in Bitlis.1

Adana · rank 26 · 6,519 people Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar · rank 28 · 2,484 people Ağrı Amasya Ankara · rank 30 · 14,233 people Antalya · rank 22 · 8,682 people Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis · rank 8 · 2,047 people Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır · rank 15 · 9,414 people Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep · rank 18 · 14,311 people Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari · rank 19 · 1,559 people Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş · rank 22 · 4,028 people Mardin Muğla · rank 29 · 3,173 people Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli · rank 25 · 318 people Şanlıurfa Uşak Van · rank 30 · 3,081 people Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale · rank 14 · 1,147 people Batman · rank 23 · 3,391 people Şırnak · rank 20 · 2,179 people Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis · rank 23 · 624 people Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 16
  • Not listed
Kaplan: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Gaziantep1814,311
02Ankara3014,233
03Diyarbakır159,414
04Antalya228,682
05Adana266,519
06Kahramanmaraş224,028

Who are some well-known people named Kaplan?

  1. Ahmetcan Kaplan association football player 2003–
  2. Hamit Kaplan amateur wrestler 1934–1976
  3. Mehmet Kaplan politician 1971–
  4. Burak Kaplan association football player 1990–
  5. Ferhat Kaplan association football player 1989–
  6. Sancak Kaplan association football player 1982–
  7. Metin Kaplan crime boss 1952–
  8. Mustafa Kaplan association football player 1967–

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

Is Kaplan also a first name?

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

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

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: kaplan 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 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Kaplan

Q1

What does the surname Kaplan mean?

Kaplan is the tiger, the great striped predator. Proto-Turkic *kaplan meant both “leopard” and “tiger”; it is linked to kapmak, “to snatch, seize”, and shares its ending with aslan and yılan. As a name it symbolises strength and daring.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Kaplan?

The root word of Kaplan is kaplan (Turkic): “tiger; in older usage also leopard”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Kaplan?

Kap·lan, 2 syllables; IPA: /kapˈɫan/.