Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 3,382

Mercan

Mercan /meɾˈdʒan/

“coral”1

Established origin Mercan: root entries for mercan · How do we know?

Published: Last updated:

Letters / syllables
6 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
mixed
Initial
M
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How do you pronounce Mercan?

Mercan

IPA /meɾˈdʒan/

The stress usually falls on syllable 2 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Mercan mean?

Mercan is coral, the colonial sea creature of warm waters whose red and pink skeleton is worked as an ornamental stone. The word comes from Arabic marjān, related to an Aramaic word for ‘pearl’. It is used as a female name in the eastern provinces and as a male name in the west.1

Grammar Bare noun borrowed from Arabic.

Mercan is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Mercan made of?

Mercan is a single Arabic root: mercan (coral).

Mercan root mercan coral ARABIC mercan “coral” Mercan mercan root coral mercan ARABIC “coral”
Mercan: parts and root words

How was the name Mercan formed?

Mercan is the word mercan (“coral”), taken unchanged as a surname.

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.4

Who are some well-known people named Mercan?

  1. Münir Levent Mercan association football player 2000–
  2. Hasan Murat Mercan politician 1959–
  3. Tugay Mercan actor 1982–
  4. Faruk Mercan writer 1971–
  5. Melikşah Mercan basketball official
  6. Boran Ali Mercan researcher
  7. Can Kaan Mercan lawyer 1995–
  8. Hulûsi Mercan painter 1913–1988

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

Is Mercan also a first name?

Yes. Mercan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “coral”.

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

Which surnames have a meaning similar to Mercan?

Alçı, Cevher and Demir share gloss keywords with Mercan within the same primary category.

Which guides add context to Mercan?

Read the root, formation and register information for Mercan alongside this guide: How to research a Turkish surname and family tree.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Adlar: Mercan accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: mercan 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 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Mercan

Q1

What does the surname Mercan mean?

Mercan is coral, the colonial sea creature of warm waters whose red and pink skeleton is worked as an ornamental stone. The word comes from Arabic marjān, related to an Aramaic word for ‘pearl’. It is used as a female name in the eastern provinces and as a male name in the west.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Mercan?

The root word of Mercan is mercan (Arabic): “coral”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Mercan?

Mer·can, 2 syllables; IPA: /meɾˈdʒan/.