Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,897

Karataş

Karataş /kaɾaˈtaʃ/ ASCII Karatas

“black stone”2

Province lists
91
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
7 / 3
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
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Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8Abroad
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Karataş?

Karataş

IPA /kaɾaˈtaʃ/

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

What does the surname Karataş mean?

Kara, “black”, joins taş, “stone”: “black stone, dark rock”. Since kara also meant “great, mighty” in old names, the name can be understood as “a massive, solid rock” as well. Many Anatolian villages and a district of Adana are called Karataş.2,3

Grammar Adjective-plus-noun compound: kara + taş.

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

What is Karataş made of?

Karataş breaks into 2 parts: kara (black; strong) + taş (stone).

Karataş + first element kara black; strong TURKIC kara “black; mighty, great” root taş stone TURKIC taş “stone” Karataş kara first element black; strong kara TURKIC “black; mighty, great” taş root stone taş TURKIC “stone”
Karataş: parts and root words
  • kara Turkic — black; mighty, great2
  • taş Turkic — stone3

How was the name Karataş formed?

Karataş belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (kara + taş).

Which surnames are related to Karataş?

Karataş Kara Aktaş Karahan Taş Karaca Karakaş Karadağ Altıntaş Demirtaş Karakaya Taşdemir Karakoç
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 Aktaş same root 30 222,711
03 Karahan same root – –
04 Taş same root – –
05 Karaca same root – –
06 Karakaş same root – –
07 Karadağ same root – –
08 Altıntaş same root – –
09 Demirtaş same root – –
10 Karakaya same root – –
11 Taşdemir same root – –
12 Karakoç same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Karataş most common?

Karataş is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 9 provinces; its best rank is 9th in Siirt.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ · rank 22 · 2,529 people Erzincan Erzurum · rank 25 · 2,851 people 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 · rank 25 · 1,121 people Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt · rank 9 · 2,393 people Sinop Sivas · rank 25 · 2,254 people Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli · rank 28 · 293 people Şanlıurfa · rank 23 · 8,501 people Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın · rank 30 · 679 people Ardahan · rank 25 · 460 people Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 9
  • Not listed
Karataş: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Şanlıurfa238,501
02Erzurum252,851
03Elazığ222,529
04Siirt92,393
05Sivas252,254
06Nevşehir251,121

Who are some well-known people named Karataş?

  1. Dursun Karataş politician 1952–2008
  2. Gülnaz Karataş partisan 1971–1992
  3. Kazımcan Karataş association football player 2003–
  4. Öztürk Karataş association football player 1991–
  5. Eda Karataş association football player 1995–
  6. Tuğba Karataş association football player 1992–
  7. Haydar Karataş association football player 2007–
  8. Haydar Karataş writer 1973–

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

How is Karataş written and pronounced abroad?

In passports and records outside Turkey Karataş is usually written Karatas.

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: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: taş accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Karataş

Q1

What does the surname Karataş mean?

Kara, “black”, joins taş, “stone”: “black stone, dark rock”. Since kara also meant “great, mighty” in old names, the name can be understood as “a massive, solid rock” as well. Many Anatolian villages and a district of Adana are called Karataş.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Karataş?

The root word of Karataş is kara (Turkic): “black; mighty, great”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Karataş?

Ka·ra·taş, 3 syllables; IPA: /kaɾaˈtaʃ/.