What does çift mean in the surname Çiftçi?

Çift comes from Persian juft 'pair'. In Turkish it came to mean the land a pair of oxen ploughs, and ploughing itself. A çiftçi is the one who works that land.

Is çoban a Turkic word?

No. It comes from Persian šubān. Çobanoğlu means 'son of the shepherd'.

Where is the surname Çiftçi most common?

In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 data, Çiftçi ranks 2nd in Şanlıurfa (34,705 people) and 3rd in Hakkari (4,033 people). The figures say nothing else about the people who carry it.

Category·Occupational surnames·166 surnames

Farming, herding and hunting

Explore Turkish surnames →

Surnames: 166; in this dictionary
In the national top 30: 0; ADNKS 2025

How did these surnames come about?

In Şanlıurfa province, Çiftçi is the 2nd most common surname, carried by 34,705 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). In Hakkari the same year, Çiftçi ranks 3rd, with 4,033 people. The figures show how widely a word spread as a surname. They do not explain why it stands out in these provinces, and we do not try to.

Pair, plough and soil

The root of Çiftçi is çift, from Persian juft 'pair'. In Turkish it took on the senses 'the land a pair of oxen can plough' and 'ploughing', as in the phrase çift sürmek 'to plough'. Add -çi and you get the person who works the land: the farmer. The suffix has its ç form here because çift ends in a voiceless consonant.

Ekinci is tied to the soil too. Ekin 'crop' comes from the Turkic verb ek- 'to sow'; an ekinci sows and works the fields. In Batman province, Ekinci ranks 7th, with 6,766 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). A Bağcı tends a vineyard; bağ is Persian bāġ 'garden, vineyard'. Bahçıvan 'gardener' was borrowed whole from Persian bāġčebān. A Değirmenci runs a mill; değirmen is Turkic and linked to an old verb meaning 'to turn'.

Flocks and the hunt

A Çoban herds sheep and goats; the word is Persian šubān. In Muğla province, Çoban ranks 17th, with 4,272 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). A Koyuncu raised or traded sheep; both koyun and the suffix are Turkic. An Arıcı keeps bees. An Avcı hunts. Av 'game, hunt' is Turkic, and in Muğla Avcı ranks 15th, with 4,362 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). Balıkçı 'fisherman' and Doğancı 'falconer' belong to the same family.

Some names describe the crop rather than the worker. Buğday 'wheat' sits in this hub because grain and harvest words belong to the farming world.

The field in 1934

The Surname Law required a surname of every Turk and, in Article 7, gave two years to report it. Under the 1934 text of the Regulation the last day was 2 July 1936; governors and district governors chose names for those who had not. In villages people were often known by their work: the shepherd, the miller, the vine-grower. Such nicknames slid easily into the registers, because the bans in Article 3 concerned ranks, offices and tribe names, not farming or herding. -oğlu was common as well: Çobanoğlu is 'son of the shepherd', Değirmencioğlu 'son of the miller'.

Two languages, one field

This hub shows Turkic and Persian meeting in the field. Some land and livestock words are Turkic (ekin, koyun, av, arı), others came from Persian (çift, bağ, çoban, bahçıvan). All of them take the same Turkish agent suffix. A farming surname tells the story of a word; it does not show what the family carrying it does today.

Sources^1,2,3,4,5

Which members of this group are most common?

Members of Farming, herding and hunting, ordered by TÜİK ADNKS 2025 count, then by the number of notable-person entries in this dictionary: Arıcı, Avcı, Bağ.

Surname	People	Notable people
Arıcı	—	8
Avcı	—	8
Bağ	—	8
Bağcı	—	8
Balcı	—	8
Biçer	—	8
Bostan	—	8
Bostancı	—	8

Which province lists include members of this group?

1 listed member
2–4 listed members
5+ listed members
0 listed members

Farming, herding and hunting: distinct members in province top-30 lists, 2025.

The map covers published top-30 lists only; omission does not mean that a province has no bearers.^5,6

All surnames in this category

The list grows as surnames are added to the dictionary.
#	Surname	Meaning	Origin	Letters
01	Afyoncu	opium-poppy grower or seller	Arabic	7
02	Ahlatçı	wild-pear gatherer or seller	Greek	7
03	Akbuğday	white wheat	Turkic	8
04	Akdarı	white millet	Turkic	6
05	Aksüt	white milk	Turkic	5
06	Altınbaş	a melon variety; golden head	Turkic	8
07	Altınbaşak	golden ear of grain	Turkic	10
08	Altunbaşak	golden ear of grain	Turkic	10
09	Arıbal	bees’ honey, pure honey	Turkic	6
10	Arıcı	beekeeper	Turkic	5
11	Arıcıoğlu	son of the beekeeper	Turkic	9
12	Ark	irrigation ditch	Turkic	3
13	Armutçu	pear grower or seller	Persian	7
14	Arpacı	barley dealer	Turkic	6
15	Arpacıoğlu	son of the barley dealer	Turkic	10
16	Asma	grapevine	Turkic	4
17	Aşar	tithe; one who overcomes	Arabic	4
18	Aşıcı	tree grafter	Turkic	5
19	Avcı	hunter	Turkic	4
20	Avcıbay	hunter lord	Turkic	7
21	Avcılar	the hunters	Turkic	7
22	Avcıoğlu	son of the hunter	Turkic	8
23	Avcu	hunter	Turkic	4
24	Avkıran	game-slayer, skilled hunter	Turkic	7
25	Avsever	lover of hunting	Turkic	7
26	Ayvacı	quince grower or seller	Persian	6
27	Babaç	old cock of the yard; big man	Turkic	5
28	Bağ	vineyard; or bond	Persian	3
29	Bağcı	vine-grower	Persian	5
30	Bağçıvan	gardener	Persian	8
31	Bağlar	vineyards	Persian	6
32	Bahçeci	gardener	Persian	7
33	Bahçecioğlu	son of the gardener	Persian	11
34	Bahçıvan	gardener	Persian	8
35	Bakla	broad bean; chain link	Arabic	5
36	Balcı	honey seller, beekeeper	Turkic	5
37	Balıkçı	fisherman, fishmonger	Turkic	7
38	Başak	ear of grain	Turkic	5
39	Baytar	veterinarian	Arabic	6
40	Besler	he feeds, he provides	Turkic	6
41	Biçen	reaper	Turkic	5
42	Biçer	reaper, harvester	Turkic	5
43	Bostan	vegetable garden	Persian	6
44	Bostancı	market gardener; palace guard	Persian	8
45	Bostancıoğlu	son of the market gardener	Persian	12
46	Bostanlık	place of vegetable gardens	Persian	9
47	Bostanoğlu	son of Bostan (vegetable garden)	Persian	10
48	Buğdaycı	wheat dealer	Turkic	8
49	Burçak	bitter vetch	Turkic	6
50	Celep	livestock dealer	Arabic	5
51	Cıngıllıoğlu	son of Cıngıllı (‘with grape clusters’)		12
52	Çapa	hoe	Turkic	4
53	Çavdar	rye	Persian	6
54	Çifçi	farmer	Persian	5
55	Çift	pair; plough team	Persian	4
56	Çiftçi	farmer	Turkic	6
57	Çiftçioğlu	son of the farmer	Persian	10
58	Çoban	shepherd	Persian	5
59	Çobanlı	of the shepherds; from Çobanlı	Persian	7
60	Çobanoğlu	son of the shepherd	Persian	9
61	Dağcı	mountaineer	Turkic	5
62	Dalyan	fish weir	Greek	6
63	Danacı	calf breeder or dealer	Turkic	6
64	Davarcı	sheep and goat herder or dealer	Turkic	7
65	Değirmencioğlu	son of the miller	Turkic	14
66	Devecioğlu	son of the camel driver	Turkic	10
67	Diker	one who plants or sews	Turkic	5
68	Dikici	shoe-stitcher; farmer	Turkic	6
69	Döğen	threshing sledge	Greek	5
70	Döğenci	threshing-sledge maker	Greek	7
71	Düvenci	thresher, sledge maker	Greek	7
72	Eken	one who sows	Turkic	4
73	Eker	one who sows	Turkic	4
74	Ekici	sower	Turkic	5
75	Ekim	sowing; October	Turkic	4
76	Ekin	crop, standing grain	Turkic	4
77	Ekinci	grain grower, farmer	Turkic	6
78	Ekincier	farmer man	Turkic	8
79	Elmacı	apple grower or seller	Turkic	6
80	Ergüder	the man who keeps to his goal	Turkic	7
81	Erikçi	plum grower or seller	Turkic	6
82	Erkoyuncu	brave sheep breeder	Turkic	9
83	Evin	love; kernel, essence	Kurdish	4

Common questions

What does çift mean in the surname Çiftçi?: Çift comes from Persian juft 'pair'. In Turkish it came to mean the land a pair of oxen ploughs, and ploughing itself. A çiftçi is the one who works that land.
Is çoban a Turkic word?: No. It comes from Persian šubān. Çobanoğlu means 'son of the shepherd'.
Where is the surname Çiftçi most common?: In TÜİK ADNKS 2025 data, Çiftçi ranks 2nd in Şanlıurfa (34,705 people) and 3rd in Hakkari (4,033 people). The figures say nothing else about the people who carry it.

Sources

1Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK Güncel Türkçe Sözlük
2Sevan Nişanyan, Nişanyan Sözlük
3T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525)
4T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr), Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759)
5Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)
6Natural Earth, Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries

Farming, herding and hunting

§1How did these surnames come about?