Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 4,440

Ulukan

Ulukan /uɫuˈkan/

“great blood; great ruler”2

Letters / syllables
6 / 3
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
back
Initial
U
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 Ulukan?

Ulukan

IPA /uɫuˈkan/

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

What does the surname Ulukan mean?

A name built from ulu ‘great, exalted’ and the element kan. Nişanyan Adlar glosses it as ‘great blood’ or ‘great emperor’; in the second reading kan is linked with the title han/kağan. Ulu comes from Old Turkic uluġ ‘exalted, great’.1,2

Grammar ulu + kan.

That Ulukan goes back to ulu and kan is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Ulukan made of?

Ulukan is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: ulu (ulu: great, exalted) + -kan (kan: blood, lineage; or khan).

Ulukan ++ first element ulu ulu: great, exalted TURKIC ulu “great, exalted; elder” suffix -kan kan: blood, lineage; orkhan TURKIC kan “blood” Ulukan ulu first element ulu: great, exalted ulu TURKIC “great, exalted; elder” -kan suffix kan: blood, lineage; or khan kan TURKIC “blood”
Ulukan: parts and root words
  • ulu Turkic — great, exalted; elder2
  • kan Turkic — blood1

How was the name Ulukan formed?

Ulukan was formed by adding the suffix -kan (“kan: blood, lineage; or khan”) to ulu (“ulu: great, exalted”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.4

Which surnames are related to Ulukan?

Ulukan Özkan Alkan Arıkan Gürkan Ulusoy Kandemir Uludağ Atakan Türkkan Uluğ Durukan Ulutaş
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Özkan same root 22 245,254
02 Alkan same root – –
03 Arıkan same root – –
04 Gürkan same root – –
05 Ulusoy same root – –
06 Kandemir same root – –
07 Uludağ same root – –
08 Atakan same root – –
09 Türkkan same root – –
10 Uluğ same root – –
11 Durukan same root – –
12 Ulutaş same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Ulukan?

  1. Hakkı Hami Ulukan politician 1889–1938

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

Is Ulukan also a first name?

Yes. Ulukan is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “great blood; great ruler”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Adlar: Ulukan accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: ulu 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 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Ulukan

Q1

What does the surname Ulukan mean?

A name built from ulu ‘great, exalted’ and the element kan. Nişanyan Adlar glosses it as ‘great blood’ or ‘great emperor’; in the second reading kan is linked with the title han/kağan. Ulu comes from Old Turkic uluġ ‘exalted, great’.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Ulukan?

Ulukan is made up of two elements: ulu “great, exalted; elder” (Turkic) and kan “blood” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Ulukan?

U·lu·kan, 3 syllables; IPA: /uɫuˈkan/.