Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,621

Karagöz

Karagöz /kaɾaˈɡøz/ ASCII Karagoz

“dark-eyed”2

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
7 / 3
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
mixed
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 Karagöz?

Karagöz

IPA /kaɾaˈɡøz/

The stress usually falls on syllable 3 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Karagöz mean?

An old descriptive nickname for someone with dark eyes, from kara “black” and göz “eye”. The same word names Karagöz, the famous hero of the Turkish shadow play, and in the dictionary it also denotes a sea fish and, figuratively, a person who amuses others.2,3,4

Grammar Compound of adjective plus noun, kara + göz; it is also listed in the dictionary as a single word.

That Karagöz goes back to kara and göz is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

Karagöz is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Karagöz made of?

Karagöz is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: kara (kara: black) + göz (göz: eye).

Karagöz ++ root kara kara: black TURKIC kara “black” root göz göz: eye TURKIC göz “eye” TURKIC karagöz “the main figure of theshadow play; a grey sea…” Karagöz kara root kara: black kara TURKIC “black” göz root göz: eye göz TURKIC “eye” karagöz TURKIC “the main figure of the shadowplay; a grey sea fish;…”
Karagöz: parts and root words
  • kara Turkic — black2
  • göz Turkic — eye3
  • karagöz Turkic — the main figure of the shadow play; a grey sea fish; figuratively a person who makes others laugh4

How was the name Karagöz formed?

Karagöz was formed by joining kara (“kara: black”) and göz (“göz: eye”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.8

Which surnames are related to Karagöz?

Karagöz Kara Karataş Karahan Karaca Karakaş Karadağ Karakaya Karakoç Açıkgöz Karaaslan Baykara Karabulut
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Kara same root 16 290,024
02 Karataş same root – –
03 Karahan same root – –
04 Karaca same root – –
05 Karakaş same root – –
06 Karadağ same root – –
07 Karakaya same root – –
08 Karakoç same root – –
09 Açıkgöz same root – –
10 Karaaslan same root – –
11 Baykara same root – –
12 Karabulut same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Karagöz most common?

Karagöz is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 25th in Çankırı.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı · rank 25 · 688 people Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 1
  • Not listed
Karagöz: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Çankırı25688

Who are some well-known people named Karagöz?

  1. Nurdan Karagöz weightlifter 1987–
  2. Soner Karagöz boxer 1972–
  3. Ali Karagöz actor 1960–
  4. Burhan Karagöz businessperson 1929–2019
  5. Hikmet Karagöz actor 1946–2020
  6. Kenan Karagöz film actor 1938–1989
  7. Murat Karagöz diplomat 1967–2023
  8. İlker Karagöz television presenter 1981–

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

Is Karagöz also a first name?

Yes. Karagöz is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “dark-eyed”.

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

How is Karagöz written and pronounced abroad?

English-language records usually print Karagöz as Karagoz, dropping the diacritics.

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 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: göz accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: karagöz accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: göz accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  9. 9 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  10. 10 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Karagöz

Q1

What does the surname Karagöz mean?

An old descriptive nickname for someone with dark eyes, from kara “black” and göz “eye”. The same word names Karagöz, the famous hero of the Turkish shadow play, and in the dictionary it also denotes a sea fish and, figuratively, a person who amuses others.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Karagöz?

Karagöz is made up of two elements: kara “black” (Turkic) and göz “eye” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Karagöz?

Ka·ra·göz, 3 syllables; IPA: /kaɾaˈɡøz/.