Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 590

Atasayan

Atasayan /atasaˈjan/

“one who honours his forefathers”2

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

How do you pronounce Atasayan?

Atasayan

IPA /atasaˈjan/

The stress usually falls on syllable 4 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Atasayan mean?

Made of ata “father, ancestor” and sayan, the participle of saymak. Here saymak means “to respect, hold in esteem”, as in büyüğünü saymak “to respect one’s elders”: “one who honours his ancestors”.1,2

Grammar ata + say- + participle -an

That Atasayan goes back to ata and saymak is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Atasayan made of?

Atasayan is Turkic in origin and breaks into 3 parts: ata (ata: father; ancestor) + say- (saymak: to respect; to count) + -an (present participle).

Atasayan ++ root ata ata: father; ancestor TURKIC ata “father; ancestor” root say- saymak: to respect; tocount TURKIC saymak “to respect, esteem; tocount” suffix -an present participle Atasayan ata root ata: father; ancestor ata TURKIC “father; ancestor” say- root saymak: to respect; to count saymak TURKIC “to respect, esteem; to count” -an suffix present participle
Atasayan: parts and root words
  • ata Turkic — father; ancestor2
  • saymak Turkic — to respect, esteem; to count1

How was the name Atasayan formed?

Atasayan was formed by adding the suffix -an (“present participle”) to the verb stem ata + say-.

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

Which surnames are related to Atasayan?

Atasayan Atalay Atay Ataman Atasoy Sayar Sayın Ataç Ata Atakan Sayan Atabek Atalar
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Atalay same root – –
02 Atay same root – –
03 Ataman same root – –
04 Atasoy same root – –
05 Sayar same root – –
06 Sayın same root – –
07 Ataç same root – –
08 Ata same root – –
09 Atakan same root – –
10 Sayan same root – –
11 Atabek same root – –
12 Atalar same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Atasayan?

  1. Bülent Atasayan politician 1940–2020

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

How is Atasayan written and pronounced abroad?

The name contains no Turkish-specific letters and is written Atasayan in foreign records too.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: saymak accessed 9 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: ata 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

Common questions about Atasayan

Q1

What does the surname Atasayan mean?

Made of ata “father, ancestor” and sayan, the participle of saymak. Here saymak means “to respect, hold in esteem”, as in büyüğünü saymak “to respect one’s elders”: “one who honours his ancestors”.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Atasayan?

Atasayan is made up of two elements: ata “father; ancestor” (Turkic) and saymak “to respect, esteem; to count” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Atasayan?

A·ta·sa·yan, 4 syllables; IPA: /atasaˈjan/.