Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 3,273

Nurhan

Nurhan /nuɾˈhan/

“lord of light”2

Letters / syllables
6 / 2
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
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Initial
N
Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Nurhan?

Nurhan

IPA /nuɾˈhan/

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

What does the surname Nurhan mean?

Nurhan is built from nur, “light”, of Arabic origin, and Turkic han, “lord, ruler”: “lord of light”. According to Nişanyan Adlar, han serves as both a male and a female marker in Turkish names; in use Nurhan is hardly distinguished from Nuran and is mostly a female name.1,2

Grammar Compound: nur + han.

What is Nurhan made of?

Nurhan combines Arabic and Turkic elements in 2 parts: nur (light) + han (khan, ruler).

Nurhan ++ root nur light ARABIC nur “light, radiance” suffix han khan, ruler TURKIC han “khan, lord” Nurhan nur root light nur ARABIC “light, radiance” han suffix khan, ruler han TURKIC “khan, lord”
Nurhan: parts and root words
  • nur Arabic — light, radiance2
  • han Turkic — khan, lord1

How was the name Nurhan formed?

Nurhan was formed by adding the suffix han (“khan, ruler”) to nur (“light”).

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

Which surnames are related to Nurhan?

Nurhan Karahan İlhan Orhan Ayhan Demirhan Erhan Bayhan Özhan Yıldızhan Nur Gökhan Beyhan
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Karahan same root – –
02 İlhan same root – –
03 Orhan same root – –
04 Ayhan same root – –
05 Demirhan same root – –
06 Erhan same root – –
07 Bayhan same root – –
08 Özhan same root – –
09 Yıldızhan same root – –
10 Nur same root – –
11 Gökhan same root – –
12 Beyhan same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Nurhan?

  1. Ant Nurhan singer 1995–
  2. Aydın Nurhan lawyer 1949–

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

Is Nurhan also a first name?

Yes. Nurhan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “lord of light”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Adlar: Nurhan accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: nur 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 Nurhan

Q1

What does the surname Nurhan mean?

Nurhan is built from nur, “light”, of Arabic origin, and Turkic han, “lord, ruler”: “lord of light”. According to Nişanyan Adlar, han serves as both a male and a female marker in Turkish names; in use Nurhan is hardly distinguished from Nuran and is mostly a female name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Nurhan?

Nurhan is made up of two elements: nur “light, radiance” (Arabic) and han “khan, lord” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Nurhan?

Nur·han, 2 syllables; IPA: /nuɾˈhan/.