Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 137

Akçay

Akçay /akˈtʃaj/ ASCII Akcay

“white stream”2

Province lists
11
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
back
Contents§1–§13
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Spellings
  7. §7Provinces
  8. §8Notable people
  9. §9As a first name
  10. §10Abroad
  11. §11Sources
  12. §12Questions
  13. §13Related

How do you pronounce Akçay?

Akçay

IPA /akˈtʃaj/

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

What does the surname Akçay mean?

From ak “white” and çay “stream”: “white stream”, clear water foaming as it runs. Here çay is not the drink but a stream larger than a brook. The name Akçay is found in many places, among them the seaside town near Edremit.2,5

Grammar Adjective ak + noun çay.

That Akçay goes back to ak and çay is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Akçay made of?

Akçay is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: ak (ak: white; clear) + çay (çay: stream, brook).

Akçay + first element ak ak: white; clear TURKIC ak “white; clean” root çay çay: stream, brook TURKIC çay “stream bigger than abrook, smaller than a…” Akçay ak first element ak: white; clear ak TURKIC “white; clean” çay root çay: stream, brook çay TURKIC “stream bigger than a brook,smaller than a river”
Akçay: parts and root words
  • ak Turkic — white; clean2
  • çay Turkic — stream bigger than a brook, smaller than a river5

How was the name Akçay formed?

Akçay was formed by joining ak (“ak: white; clear”) and çay (“çay: stream, brook”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.8

Which surnames are related to Akçay?

Akçay Uluçay Çay Kuruçay Doğançay Akçayöz Çaykara Çaylıgil Gökçay Yeşilçay Çayoğlu Samurçay Soğukçay
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Uluçay same root – –
02 Çay same root – –
03 Kuruçay same root – –
04 Doğançay same root – –
05 Akçayöz same root – –
06 Çaykara same root – –
07 Çaylıgil same root – –
08 Gökçay same root – –
09 Yeşilçay same root – –
10 Çayoğlu same root – –
11 Samurçay same root – –
12 Soğukçay same root – –

How else is Akçay spelled?

Ağçayspelling

Where in Türkiye is Akçay most common?

Akçay is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 list of 1 province; its best rank is 30th in Ardahan.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan · rank 30 · 377 people Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2022
  • In the province top 30 1
  • Not listed
Akçay: rank by province, 2022 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Ardahan30377

Who are some well-known people named Akçay?

  1. Mustafa Reşit Akçay association football player 1958–
  2. İsmail Akçay athlete 1942–
  3. Mücahit Can Akçay association football player 1998–
  4. Erkan Akçay politician 1961–
  5. Mustafa Akçay association football player 1983–
  6. Ege Akçay basketball player 2006–
  7. Gülçin Akçay actor 1943–2015
  8. Halil İbrahim Akçay association football player 1960–

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

Is Akçay also a first name?

Yes. Akçay is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “white stream”.

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

How is Akçay written and pronounced abroad?

Without Turkish letters the name is written Akcay in English and German records.

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 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: ak accessed 9 November 2026
  3. 3 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: çay2 accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Adlar: Akçay accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: çay accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Akçay accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  9. 9 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  10. 10 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Akçay

Q1

What does the surname Akçay mean?

From ak “white” and çay “stream”: “white stream”, clear water foaming as it runs. Here çay is not the drink but a stream larger than a brook. The name Akçay is found in many places, among them the seaside town near Edremit.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Akçay?

Akçay is made up of two elements: ak “white; clean” (Turkic) and çay “stream bigger than a brook, smaller than a river” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Akçay?

Ak·çay, 2 syllables; IPA: /akˈtʃaj/.