Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,926

Tan

/tan/

“dawn”2

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
3 / 1
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
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Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8As a first name
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Tan?

Tan

IPA /tan/

What does the surname Tan mean?

Tan is dawn, the time when the sky grows light before sunrise, as in tan yeri ağarmak, “day breaks”. Old Turkic had taŋ. As a name it stands for a new beginning and light, and it also appears in names such as Tanju and Altan.2

Tan is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Tan made of?

Tan is a single root: tan (dawn, daybreak).

Tan root tan dawn, daybreak TURKIC tan “dawn, daybreak” Tan tan root dawn, daybreak tan TURKIC “dawn, daybreak”
Tan: parts and root words
  • tan Turkic — dawn, daybreak2

How was the name Tan formed?

Tan belongs to the “plain noun” class of surnames.

Which surnames are related to Tan?

Tan Altan Taner Ertan Aktan Tanyeri Tansel Kızıltan Tandoğan Göktan Öztan Tanyeli Tankut
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Altan same root – –
02 Taner same root – –
03 Ertan same root – –
04 Aktan same root – –
05 Tanyeri same root – –
06 Tansel same root – –
07 Kızıltan same root – –
08 Tandoğan same root – –
09 Göktan same root – –
10 Öztan same root – –
11 Tanyeli same root – –
12 Tankut same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Tan most common?

Tan is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 24th in Bingöl.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl · rank 24 · 792 people Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 1
  • Not listed
Tan: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Bingöl24792

Who are some well-known people named Tan?

  1. Arzu Tan taekwondo athlete 1973–
  2. Namık Tan diplomat 1956–
  3. Altan Tan politician 1958–
  4. Hasan Hayri Tan politician 1880–1942
  5. Zeynep Günay Tan film director 1975–
  6. Canan Tan writer 1951–
  7. Ahmet Ramiz Tan politician 1884–1928
  8. Barış Tan professor

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

Is Tan also a first name?

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

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: tan 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 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Tan

Q1

What does the surname Tan mean?

Tan is dawn, the time when the sky grows light before sunrise, as in tan yeri ağarmak, “day breaks”. Old Turkic had taŋ. As a name it stands for a new beginning and light, and it also appears in names such as Tanju and Altan.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Tan?

The root word of Tan is tan (Turkic): “dawn, daybreak”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Tan?

Tan, 1 syllable; IPA: /tan/.