Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 3,095

Tunahan

Tunahan /tunaˈhan/

“Tuna (Alp Er Tunga) + khan”1

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

How do you pronounce Tunahan?

Tunahan

IPA /tunaˈhan/

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

What does the surname Tunahan mean?

Tunahan is a male name made of Tuna and han ‘ruler, khan’. According to Nişanyan Adlar, in New Turkish names Tuna is almost always a form of the name of the legendary Turkic ruler Alp Er Tunga, though it can sometimes refer to the Danube. Han comes from Old Turkic kağan/han ‘ruler’.1,2

Grammar Tuna + han.

That Tunahan goes back to Tuna and han is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Tunahan made of?

Tunahan breaks into 2 parts: Tuna (form of Alp Er Tunga; the Danube) + han (ruler, khan).

Tunahan + root Tuna form of Alp Er Tunga; theDanube TURKIC Tuna “form of the name Alp ErTunga” root han ruler, khan TURKIC han “ruler” Tunahan Tuna root form of Alp Er Tunga; the Danube Tuna TURKIC “form of the name Alp Er Tunga” han root ruler, khan han TURKIC “ruler”
Tunahan: parts and root words
  • Tuna Turkic — form of the name Alp Er Tunga1
  • han Turkic — ruler2

How was the name Tunahan formed?

Tunahan belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (Tuna + han).

Which surnames are related to Tunahan?

Tunahan Karahan İlhan Tuna Orhan Ayhan Demirhan Tunalı Erhan Bayhan Özhan Yıldızhan Gökhan
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Karahan same root – –
02 İlhan same root – –
03 Tuna same root – –
04 Orhan same root – –
05 Ayhan same root – –
06 Demirhan same root – –
07 Tunalı same root – –
08 Erhan same root – –
09 Bayhan same root – –
10 Özhan same root – –
11 Yıldızhan same root – –
12 Gökhan same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Tunahan?

  1. Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan writer 1888–1959

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

Is Tunahan also a first name?

Yes. Tunahan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “Tuna (Alp Er Tunga) + khan”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 nisanyanadlar.com nisanyanadlar.com: Tunahan accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: han 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 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Tunahan

Q1

What does the surname Tunahan mean?

Tunahan is a male name made of Tuna and han ‘ruler, khan’. According to Nişanyan Adlar, in New Turkish names Tuna is almost always a form of the name of the legendary Turkic ruler Alp Er Tunga, though it can sometimes refer to the Danube. Han comes from Old Turkic kağan/han ‘ruler’.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Tunahan?

The root word of Tunahan is Tuna (Turkic): “form of the name Alp Er Tunga”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Tunahan?

Tu·na·han, 3 syllables; IPA: /tunaˈhan/.