Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,876

Karakoyunlu

Karakoyunlu /kaɾakojunˈɫu/

“with black sheep; a historical state”1

Letters / syllables
11 / 5
Formation
Suffixed
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. §7Abroad
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Karakoyunlu?

Karakoyunlu

IPA /kaɾakojunˈɫu/

The stress usually falls on syllable 5 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Karakoyunlu mean?

Karakoyunlu literally means ‘with black sheep’, from kara ‘black’, koyun ‘sheep’ and -lu. It is the name of the Kara Koyunlu state, an Oghuz polity with its capital at Tabriz that ruled eastern Anatolia, the southern Caucasus, Azerbaijan and northern Iraq from 1380 to 1469.1,2

Grammar kara + koyun + -lu.

What is Karakoyunlu made of?

Karakoyunlu breaks into 3 parts: kara (black) + koyun (sheep) + -lu (from; having).

Karakoyunlu ++ root kara black TURKIC kara “black” root koyun sheep TURKIC koyun “sheep” suffix -lu from; having Karakoyunlu kara root black kara TURKIC “black” koyun root sheep koyun TURKIC “sheep” -lu suffix from; having
Karakoyunlu: parts and root words
  • kara Turkic — black1
  • koyun Turkic — sheep2

How was the name Karakoyunlu formed?

Karakoyunlu belongs to the “suffixed” class of surnames (kara + koyun + -lu).

Which surnames are related to Karakoyunlu?

Karakoyunlu Kara Karataş Karahan Karaca Karakaş Karadağ Karakaya Karakoç Karaaslan Karagöz 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 Karaaslan same root – –
10 Karagöz same root – –
11 Baykara same root – –
12 Karabulut same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Karakoyunlu?

  1. Yılmaz Karakoyunlu politician 1936–2024

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

How is Karakoyunlu written and pronounced abroad?

The spelling Karakoyunlu is kept abroad; y is the consonant of English yes.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikipedi: Karakoyunlular accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: koyun 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 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Karakoyunlu

Q1

What does the surname Karakoyunlu mean?

Karakoyunlu literally means ‘with black sheep’, from kara ‘black’, koyun ‘sheep’ and -lu. It is the name of the Kara Koyunlu state, an Oghuz polity with its capital at Tabriz that ruled eastern Anatolia, the southern Caucasus, Azerbaijan and northern Iraq from 1380 to 1469.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Karakoyunlu?

The root word of Karakoyunlu is kara (Turkic): “black”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Karakoyunlu?

Ka·ra·ko·yun·lu, 5 syllables; IPA: /kaɾakojunˈɫu/.