Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 3,032

Kurtulan

Kurtulan /kuɾtuˈɫan/

“the survivor”1

Letters / syllables
8 / 3
Formation
From a verb
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 Kurtulan?

Kurtulan

IPA /kuɾtuˈɫan/

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

What does the surname Kurtulan mean?

Kurtulan is the participle of kurtulmak ‘to escape, to be saved’: ‘the one who survived’. The surname resembles a nickname recalling a forebear who came through an illness, a war or some other danger.1

Grammar kurtul- + -an: present participle.

That Kurtulan goes back to kurtulmak is probable rather than proven: the dictionary entry cited supports it.

What is Kurtulan made of?

Kurtulan is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: kurtul- (kurtulmak: to escape, to be saved) + -an (present participle).

Kurtulan + root kurtul- kurtulmak: to escape, tobe saved TURKIC kurtulmak “to escape danger, to besaved” suffix -an present participle Kurtulan kurtul- root kurtulmak: to escape, to be saved kurtulmak TURKIC “to escape danger, to be saved” -an suffix present participle
Kurtulan: parts and root words
  • kurtulmak Turkic — to escape danger, to be saved1

How was the name Kurtulan formed?

Kurtulan was formed by adding the suffix -an (“present participle”) to the verb stem kurtul- (“kurtulmak: to escape, to be saved”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.3

Which surnames are related to Kurtulan?

Kurtulan Kurtuluş Kurtulmuş Kurtaran
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Kurtuluş same root – –
02 Kurtulmuş same root – –
03 Kurtaran same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Kurtulan?

  1. Arda Okan Kurtulan association football player 2002–
  2. Fatma Kurtulan politician 1964–
  3. Ejder Kurtulan politician 1898–1971
  4. Ali Emrah Kurtulan journalist 1985–
  5. İldeniz Kurtulan writer 1932–2007

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: kurtulmak 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

Common questions about Kurtulan

Q1

What does the surname Kurtulan mean?

Kurtulan is the participle of kurtulmak ‘to escape, to be saved’: ‘the one who survived’. The surname resembles a nickname recalling a forebear who came through an illness, a war or some other danger.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Kurtulan?

The root word of Kurtulan is kurtulmak (Turkic): “to escape danger, to be saved”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Kurtulan?

Kur·tu·lan, 3 syllables; IPA: /kuɾtuˈɫan/.