Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,890

Karaoğlu

Karaoğlu /kaɾaoːˈɫu/ ASCII Karaoglu

“son of Kara”1

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

How do you pronounce Karaoğlu?

Karaoğlu

IPA /kaɾaoːˈɫu/

The stress usually falls on syllable 4 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Karaoğlu mean?

Karaoğlu is a family name meaning “son of Kara”. Kara here is an ancestor’s nickname or name: it may be a nickname for a dark-haired or dark-complexioned person, and in old Turkic names it was also used to mean “strong, great”. Which sense applies depends on the ancestor.1

Grammar kara + -oğlu

What is Karaoğlu made of?

Karaoğlu breaks into 2 parts: kara (black; dark; as a nickname or name, Kara) + -oğlu (son of).

Karaoğlu + root kara black; dark; as anickname or name, Kara TURKIC kara “black; dark; in oldnames strong, great” suffix -oğlu son of Karaoğlu kara root black; dark; as a nickname or name,Kara kara TURKIC “black; dark; in old namesstrong, great” -oğlu suffix son of
Karaoğlu: parts and root words
  • kara Turkic — black; dark; in old names strong, great1

How was the name Karaoğlu formed?

Karaoğlu belongs to the “patronymic” class of surnames (kara + -oğlu).

Which surnames are related to Karaoğlu?

Karaoğlu 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 Karaoğlu?

  1. Sedat Karaoğlu association football player 1960–2014
  2. Aziz Karaoğlu boxer 1977–
  3. Karabey Kadri Karaoğlu statesperson 1966–
  4. Yağmur Karaoğlu volleyball player 2001–
  5. Elif Gizem Karaoğlu Kirenli researcher
  6. Esra Karaoğlu association football player 1993–
  7. Hande Pekbelgin Karaoğlu researcher
  8. Kaan Karaoğlu researcher

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Karaoğlu

Q1

What does the surname Karaoğlu mean?

Karaoğlu is a family name meaning “son of Kara”. Kara here is an ancestor’s nickname or name: it may be a nickname for a dark-haired or dark-complexioned person, and in old Turkic names it was also used to mean “strong, great”. Which sense applies depends on the ancestor.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Karaoğlu?

The root word of Karaoğlu is kara (Turkic): “black; dark; in old names strong, great”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Karaoğlu?

Ka·ra·oğ·lu, 4 syllables; IPA: /kaɾaoːˈɫu/.