Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,624

Karahan

Karahan /kaɾaˈhan/

“great, mighty khan”1

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

How do you pronounce Karahan?

Karahan

IPA /kaɾaˈhan/

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

What does the surname Karahan mean?

Built from kara and han. In old Turkic titles kara means “great, mighty” more than “black”, so Karahan is “the great khan”. The Karakhanid state of Central Asia took its name from this title, and many Anatolian villages bear it too.1,4

Grammar Compound kara + han.

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

What is Karahan made of?

Karahan is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: kara (kara: black; great, mighty) + han (han: khan, ruler).

Karahan ++ first element kara kara: black; great,mighty TURKIC kara “black; in old Turkictitles great, mighty” suffix han han: khan, ruler TURKIC han “khan, ruler” Karahan kara first element kara: black; great, mighty kara TURKIC “black; in old Turkic titlesgreat, mighty” han suffix han: khan, ruler han TURKIC “khan, ruler”
Karahan: parts and root words
  • kara Turkic — black; in old Turkic titles great, mighty1
  • han Turkic — khan, ruler4

How was the name Karahan formed?

Karahan was formed by adding the suffix han (“han: khan, ruler”) to kara (“kara: black; great, mighty”).

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

Which surnames are related to Karahan?

Karahan Kara Karataş Karaca Karakaş Karadağ İlhan Orhan Ayhan Karakaya Karakoç Karaaslan Karagöz
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 Karaca same root – –
04 Karakaş same root – –
05 Karadağ same root – –
06 İlhan same root – –
07 Orhan same root – –
08 Ayhan same root – –
09 Karakaya same root – –
10 Karakoç same root – –
11 Karaaslan same root – –
12 Karagöz same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Karahan?

  1. Pelin Karahan actor 1984–
  2. Hakan Karahan actor 1960–
  3. Fatih Karahan researcher 1982–
  4. Saim Osman Karahan writer 1939–2015
  5. Zeynep Karahan Uslu politician 1969–
  6. Alperen Karahan athletics competitor 2000–
  7. Enver Karahan writer 1962–
  8. Ahmet Karahan politician 1929–2023

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

Is Karahan also a first name?

Yes. Karahan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “great, mighty khan”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: han2 accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Karahan accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: han accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: kara 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 Karahan

Q1

What does the surname Karahan mean?

Built from kara and han. In old Turkic titles kara means “great, mighty” more than “black”, so Karahan is “the great khan”. The Karakhanid state of Central Asia took its name from this title, and many Anatolian villages bear it too.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Karahan?

Karahan is made up of two elements: kara “black; in old Turkic titles great, mighty” (Turkic) and han “khan, ruler” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Karahan?

Ka·ra·han, 3 syllables; IPA: /kaɾaˈhan/.