Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 4,521

Ünsal

Ünsal /ynˈsaɫ/ ASCII Unsal

“‘spread your fame’”2

Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
From a verb
Vowel harmony
mixed
Initial
Ü
Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Abroad
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Ünsal?

Ünsal

IPA /ynˈsaɫ/

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

What does the surname Ünsal mean?

Built from ün “fame” and the imperative of salmak “to spread”: “spread your fame”, may your name be heard far and wide. It has the same structure as Soysal, “may your lineage spread”. Ünsal is also a male given name.1,2

Grammar Noun ün + second-person imperative of salmak (sal).

That Ünsal goes back to ün and salmak is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Ünsal made of?

Ünsal is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: ün (ün: fame) + sal- (salmak: to spread, to send out).

Ünsal + root ün ün: fame TURKIC ün “fame, renown; voice” root sal- salmak: to spread, tosend out TURKIC salmak “to spread, to scatter” Ünsal ün root ün: fame ün TURKIC “fame, renown; voice” sal- root salmak: to spread, to send out salmak TURKIC “to spread, to scatter”
Ünsal: parts and root words
  • ün Turkic — fame, renown; voice2
  • salmak Turkic — to spread, to scatter1

How was the name Ünsal formed?

Ünsal was formed by joining ün (“ün: fame”) and sal- (“salmak: to spread, to send out”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.5

Which surnames are related to Ünsal?

Ünsal Köksal Soysal Ünsalan Şansal Köksalan
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Köksal same root – –
02 Soysal same root – –
03 Ünsalan same root – –
04 Şansal same root – –
05 Köksalan same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Ünsal?

  1. Hakan Ünsal association football player 1973–
  2. Sinem Ünsal actor 1993–
  3. Tuba Ünsal actor 1981–
  4. Berk İsmail Ünsal association football player 1994–
  5. Seyit Cem Ünsal association football player 1975–
  6. Begünhan Ünsal athlete 1993–
  7. Didem Ünsal television presenter 1966–
  8. Batuhan Ünsal association football player 1997–

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

Is Ünsal also a first name?

Yes. Ünsal is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “spread your fame”.

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

How is Ünsal written and pronounced abroad?

English-language records usually print Ünsal as Unsal, dropping the diacritics.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Soysal accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: ün accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Ünsal 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 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Ünsal

Q1

What does the surname Ünsal mean?

Built from ün “fame” and the imperative of salmak “to spread”: “spread your fame”, may your name be heard far and wide. It has the same structure as Soysal, “may your lineage spread”. Ünsal is also a male given name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Ünsal?

Ünsal is made up of two elements: ün “fame, renown; voice” (Turkic) and salmak “to spread, to scatter” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Ünsal?

Ün·sal, 2 syllables; IPA: /ynˈsaɫ/.