Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,974

Tatar

Tatar /taˈtaɾ/

“historical tribal name; Ottoman courier”3

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
5 / 2
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 Tatar?

Tatar

IPA /taˈtaɾ/

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

What does the surname Tatar mean?

Tatar is a tribal name found in early Central Asian sources and today the name of a Turkic people. In Ottoman Turkish the word tatar also meant a mounted courier carrying the state post. The surname may go back to either use; which applies differs from family to family, and it says nothing about the ancestry of its bearers.3

That Tatar goes back to Tatar and tatar is probable rather than proven: the dictionary entry cited supports it.

Tatar is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Tatar made of?

Tatar is a single root: Tatar (historical tribe and people name; Ottoman mounted courier).

Tatar + root Tatar historical tribe andpeople name; Ottoman… TURKIC Tatar “name of an old tribe;today a Turkic people” TURKIC tatar “in Ottoman times amounted postal courier” Tatar Tatar root historical tribe and people name;Ottoman mounted courier Tatar TURKIC “name of an old tribe; today aTurkic people” tatar TURKIC “in Ottoman times a mountedpostal courier”
Tatar: parts and root words
  • Tatar Turkic — name of an old tribe; today a Turkic people3
  • tatar Turkic — in Ottoman times a mounted postal courier3

How was the name Tatar formed?

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

Which surnames are related to Tatar?

#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Tataroğlu same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Tatar most common?

Tatar is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 9th in Şırnak.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl 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 · rank 9 · 3,153 people Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 1
  • Not listed
Tatar: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Şırnak93,153

Who are some well-known people named Tatar?

  1. Nur Tatar taekwondo athlete 1992–
  2. Seyfi Tatar boxer 1948–2015
  3. Gülsüm Tatar boxer 1985–
  4. Kibar Tatar boxer 1968–
  5. Burçe Tatar Ürkmezgil chef
  6. Ali Tatar soldier 1967–2009
  7. Anıl Tatar volleyball player 1995–
  8. Arslan Tatar statesperson 1973–

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

Is Tatar also a first name?

Yes. Tatar is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “historical tribal name; Ottoman courier”.

Tatar 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: Tatar accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: tatar 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 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Tatar

Q1

What does the surname Tatar mean?

Tatar is a tribal name found in early Central Asian sources and today the name of a Turkic people. In Ottoman Turkish the word tatar also meant a mounted courier carrying the state post. The surname may go back to either use; which applies differs from family to family, and it says nothing about the ancestry of its bearers.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Tatar?

The root word of Tatar is Tatar (Turkic): “name of an old tribe; today a Turkic people”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Tatar?

Ta·tar, 2 syllables; IPA: /taˈtaɾ/.