Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,506

Özil

Özil /øˈzil/ ASCII Ozil

“one’s own homeland”1

Letters / syllables
4 / 2
Formation
1934 coinage
Vowel harmony
front
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 Özil?

Özil

IPA /øˈzil/

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

What does the surname Özil mean?

The name appears to be built from öz ‘own, genuine’ and il ‘homeland, country, people’: ‘one’s own land’. It uses favourite elements of the 1934 surnames, and no dictionary entry explains it directly. Today it is also used as a given name for girls and boys.1,2

Grammar Two-element compound: öz + il.

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

What is Özil made of?

Özil breaks into 2 parts: öz (own; pure, genuine) + il (country, homeland; people).

Özil + first element öz own; pure, genuine TURKIC öz “own; pure, genuine” root il country, homeland; people TURKIC il “country, realm;province; people” Özil öz first element own; pure, genuine öz TURKIC “own; pure, genuine” il root country, homeland; people il TURKIC “country, realm; province; people”
Özil: parts and root words
  • öz Turkic — own; pure, genuine1
  • il Turkic — country, realm; province; people2

How was the name Özil formed?

Özil belongs to the “1934 coinage” class of surnames (öz + il).

Who are some well-known people named Özil?

  1. Mesut Özil association football player 1988–
  2. Ayşe Özil historian
  3. Musa Özil researcher
  4. Yunus Özil basketball player 2004–
  5. Şeyda Özil linguist

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

Is Özil also a first name?

Yes. Özil is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: one’s own homeland.

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

How is Özil written and pronounced abroad?

Without Turkish letters the name is usually written Ozil in foreign passports and registers.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: öz accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: il accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Özil 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
  7. 7 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Özil

Q1

What does the surname Özil mean?

The name appears to be built from öz ‘own, genuine’ and il ‘homeland, country, people’: ‘one’s own land’. It uses favourite elements of the 1934 surnames, and no dictionary entry explains it directly. Today it is also used as a given name for girls and boys.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Özil?

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

How do you pronounce Özil?

Ö·zil, 2 syllables; IPA: /øˈzil/.