Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 4,354

Turan

Turan /tuˈɾan/

“historical homeland of the Turks”2

Province lists
181
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
back
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 Turan?

Turan

IPA /tuˈɾan/

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

What does the surname Turan mean?

Turan is the name given in the old Iranian tradition, and in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, to the land north-east of Iran, regarded as the homeland of the Turks. Turkish uses it as the name of this historical homeland, and it is also a common male given name.2

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

  1. The common view derives the name from Tūrān, the land name of the old Iranian tradition, used in the Shahnameh for the territories north-east of Iran.
  2. English Wiktionary instead traces Turkish Turan through Ottoman توران to an Old Turkic form turan.

What is Turan made of?

Turan is a single Persian root: Turan (in old Iranian sources, the land of the Turks).

Turan root Turan in old Iranian sources,the land of the Turks PERSIAN Tūrān “the land beyond theOxus, associated with…” Turan Turan root in old Iranian sources, the land ofthe Turks Tūrān PERSIAN “the land beyond the Oxus,associated with the Turks”
Turan: parts and root words
  • Tūrān Persian — the land beyond the Oxus, associated with the Turks2

How was the name Turan formed?

Turan is the word Turan (“in old Iranian sources, the land of the Turks”), taken unchanged as a surname.

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.6

Which surnames are related to Turan?

Turan Özturan Erturan Turani Turantepe
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Özturan same root – –
02 Erturan same root – –
03 Turani same root – –
04 Turantepe same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Turan most common?

Turan is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 18 provinces; its best rank is 4th in Iğdır.1

Adana Adıyaman · rank 19 · 3,475 people Afyonkarahisar Ağrı · rank 22 · 2,677 people Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik · rank 24 · 789 people Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa · rank 19 · 12,149 people Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır · rank 29 · 6,571 people Edirne Elazığ Erzincan · rank 26 · 796 people Erzurum · rank 24 · 2,868 people Eskişehir · rank 28 · 2,578 people Gaziantep Giresun · rank 16 · 2,373 people Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir · rank 27 · 11,542 people Kars · rank 14 · 1,753 people Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli · rank 21 · 7,472 people Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya · rank 28 · 3,358 people Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon · rank 21 · 4,148 people Tunceli · rank 26 · 304 people Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak · rank 28 · 1,904 people Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman · rank 15 · 4,223 people Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır · rank 4 · 1,819 people Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 18
  • Not listed
Turan: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Bursa1912,149
02Izmir2711,542
03Kocaeli217,472
04Diyarbakır296,571
05Batman154,223
06Trabzon214,148

Who are some well-known people named Turan?

  1. Arda Turan association football player 1987–
  2. Ayça Ayşin Turan actor 1992–
  3. Cemil Turan association football player 1947–
  4. Hüseyinzade Ali Turan military physician 1864–1940
  5. Ali Turan association football player 1983–
  6. Atila Turan association football player 1992–
  7. Fatih Turan association football player 1981–
  8. Bülent Turan politician 1975–

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

Is Turan also a first name?

Yes. Turan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “historical homeland of the Turks”.

Turan 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: Tūrān accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Turan accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Turan accessed 9 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 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Turan

Q1

What does the surname Turan mean?

Turan is the name given in the old Iranian tradition, and in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, to the land north-east of Iran, regarded as the homeland of the Turks. Turkish uses it as the name of this historical homeland, and it is also a common male given name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Turan?

The root word of Turan is Tūrān (Persian): “the land beyond the Oxus, associated with the Turks”. There are 3 competing views on where Turan comes from, all set out on this page.
Q3

How do you pronounce Turan?

Tu·ran, 2 syllables; IPA: /tuˈɾan/.