Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 455

Ay

/aj/

“moon”2

Province lists
41
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
2 / 1
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
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Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Provinces
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Ay?

Ay

IPA /aj/

What does the surname Ay mean?

Ay is the moon, the body that circles the earth, and also a month. In the Turkish naming tradition the moon symbolises beauty and radiance, as in ay yüzlü, “moon-faced, fair of face”. It is the first element of many names such as Ayhan, Aydemir and Aydoğan.2

Ay is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Ay made of?

Ay is a single root: ay (moon; month).

Ay root ay moon; month TURKIC ay “moon; month;figuratively beauty” Ay ay root moon; month ay TURKIC “moon; month; figuratively beauty”
Ay: parts and root words
  • ay Turkic — moon; month; figuratively beauty2

How was the name Ay formed?

Ay belongs to the “plain noun” class of surnames.

Where in Türkiye is Ay most common?

Ay is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 4 provinces; its best rank is 15th in Mardin.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur · rank 30 · 915 people Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu · rank 30 · 957 people Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin · rank 15 · 4,304 people Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa · rank 28 · 7,378 people Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 4
  • Not listed
Ay: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Şanlıurfa287,378
02Mardin154,304
03Kastamonu30957
04Burdur30915

Who are some well-known people named Ay?

  1. Mizgin Ay sprinter 2000–
  2. Savaş Ay actor 1954–2013
  3. Selim Ay association football player 1991–
  4. Dilber Ay actor 1956–2019
  5. Fatma Ay handball player 1992–
  6. İsmet Ay actor 1924–2004
  7. Fahri Kerem Ay association football player 2005–
  8. Yeliz Ay athletics competitor 1977–

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

Is Ay also a first name?

Yes. Ay is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “moon”.

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

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 Wikimedia Wiktionary: ay 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 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Ay

Q1

What does the surname Ay mean?

Ay is the moon, the body that circles the earth, and also a month. In the Turkish naming tradition the moon symbolises beauty and radiance, as in ay yüzlü, “moon-faced, fair of face”. It is the first element of many names such as Ayhan, Aydemir and Aydoğan.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Ay?

The root word of Ay is ay (Turkic): “moon; month; figuratively beauty”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Ay?

Ay, 1 syllable; IPA: /aj/.