Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,396

Öcalan

Öcalan /ødʒaˈɫan/ ASCII Ocalan

“avenger”1

Letters / syllables
6 / 3
Formation
From a verb
Vowel harmony
mixed
Initial
Ö
Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7Abroad
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Öcalan?

Öcalan

IPA /ødʒaˈɫan/

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

What does the surname Öcalan mean?

Öcalan means ‘the one who takes revenge’, who repays a wrong. It is formed from öç ‘revenge’ and alan, the present participle of almak ‘to take’, a fixed form of the phrase öç almak ‘to take revenge’.1,2

Grammar Object plus participle: öç + al-an.

That Öcalan goes back to öç and almak is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Öcalan made of?

Öcalan breaks into 3 parts: öç (revenge) + al- (almak: to take) + -an (present participle).

Öcalan ++ root öç revenge TURKIC öç “revenge, vengeance” root al- almak: to take TURKIC almak “to take” suffix -an present participle Öcalan öç root revenge öç TURKIC “revenge, vengeance” al- root almak: to take almak TURKIC “to take” -an suffix present participle
Öcalan: parts and root words
  • öç Turkic — revenge, vengeance1
  • almak Turkic — to take2

How was the name Öcalan formed?

Öcalan belongs to the “from a verb” class of surnames (öç + al- + -an).

Which surnames are related to Öcalan?

Öcalan Ünal Vural Önal Öcal Algan Şanal Önalan Yenel Ünaldı Ünalmış
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Ünal same root – –
02 Vural same root – –
03 Önal same root – –
04 Öcal same root – –
05 Algan same root – –
06 Şanal same root – –
07 Önalan same root – –
08 Yenel same root – –
09 Ünaldı same root – –
10 Ünalmış same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Öcalan?

  1. Abdullah Öcalan politician 1948–
  2. Dilek Öcalan politician 1987–
  3. Osman Öcalan politician 1958–2021
  4. Ömer Öcalan politician 1987–
  5. Mehmet Öcalan politician
  6. Melike Öcalan actor 1979–
  7. Kadir Öcalan researcher
  8. Özlem Öcalan researcher

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

How is Öcalan written and pronounced abroad?

Outside Türkiye the name is often written Ocalan in passports and registers that lack Turkish letters.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: öç accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: almak accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikipedi: Öcalan 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

Common questions about Öcalan

Q1

What does the surname Öcalan mean?

Öcalan means ‘the one who takes revenge’, who repays a wrong. It is formed from öç ‘revenge’ and alan, the present participle of almak ‘to take’, a fixed form of the phrase öç almak ‘to take revenge’.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Öcalan?

The root word of Öcalan is öç (Turkic): “revenge, vengeance”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Öcalan?

Ö·ca·lan, 3 syllables; IPA: /ødʒaˈɫan/.