Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,440

Özal

Özal /øˈzaɫ/ ASCII Ozal

“1934 name from öz and al”1

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

How do you pronounce Özal?

Özal

IPA /øˈzaɫ/

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

What does the surname Özal mean?

Özal is one of the standard Turkish surnames proposed in 1934–35. According to Nişanyan Adlar it was formed by freely combining two syllables and has no specific meaning. Taken one by one, the syllables match öz ‘pure, genuine’ and al ‘red’.1,2

Grammar Two-syllable surname proposed in 1934: öz + al.

That Özal goes back to öz and al is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Özal made of?

Özal breaks into 2 parts: öz (own; pure, genuine) + al (red).

Özal + first element öz own; pure, genuine TURKIC öz “pure, genuine; own” root al red TURKIC al “crimson” Özal öz first element own; pure, genuine öz TURKIC “pure, genuine; own” al root red al TURKIC “crimson”
Özal: parts and root words
  • öz Turkic — pure, genuine; own1
  • al Turkic — crimson2

How was the name Özal formed?

Özal belongs to the “1934 coinage” class of surnames (öz + al).

Who are some well-known people named Özal?

  1. Turgut Özal politician 1927–1993
  2. Korkut Özal politician 1929–2016
  3. Semra Özal politician 1934–
  4. Mehmet Rüştü Özal politician 1915–2008
  5. Murat Mehmet Özal politician 1955–2013
  6. Yusuf Bozkurt Özal politician 1940–2001
  7. İbrahim Reyhan Özal politician 1965–
  8. Sadık Altan Özal researcher

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

Is Özal also a first name?

Yes. Özal is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “1934 name from öz and al”.

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

How is Özal written and pronounced abroad?

In English-language documents it often appears as Ozal.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: öz accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: al accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 nisanyanadlar.com nisanyanadlar.com: Özal accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Özal accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Özal

Q1

What does the surname Özal mean?

Özal is one of the standard Turkish surnames proposed in 1934–35. According to Nişanyan Adlar it was formed by freely combining two syllables and has no specific meaning. Taken one by one, the syllables match öz ‘pure, genuine’ and al ‘red’.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Özal?

The root word of Özal is öz (Turkic): “pure, genuine; own”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Özal?

Ö·zal, 2 syllables; IPA: /øˈzaɫ/.