Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,109

Bozbay

Bozbay /bozˈbaj/

“grey lord; grey and rich”2

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

How do you pronounce Bozbay?

Bozbay

IPA /bozˈbaj/

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

What does the surname Bozbay mean?

Bozbay is formed from boz ‘grey, dun’ and bay ‘rich’. Boz is a common colour element in Turkish names (Bozkurt, Bozdağ), and bay meant ‘rich, noble’ in Old Turkic. Nişanyan Adlar, however, treats Bozbay as a form of Bozbey, ‘grey lord’, probably describing a grizzled, fairish colouring.2,3

Grammar boz + bay.

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

  1. boz + bay ‘rich’.
  2. Nişanyan Adlar: a form of Bozbey ‘grey lord’.

What is Bozbay made of?

Bozbay is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: boz (boz: grey, dun) + bay (bay: rich; Old Turkic noble).

Bozbay + root boz boz: grey, dun TURKIC boz “grey, dun; uncultivated(land)” root bay bay: rich; Old Turkicnoble TURKIC bay “rich” Bozbay boz root boz: grey, dun boz TURKIC “grey, dun; uncultivated (land)” bay root bay: rich; Old Turkic noble bay TURKIC “rich”
Bozbay: parts and root words
  • boz Turkic — grey, dun; uncultivated (land)2
  • bay Turkic — rich3

How was the name Bozbay formed?

Bozbay was formed by joining boz (“boz: grey, dun”) and bay (“bay: rich; Old Turkic noble”).

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

Which surnames are related to Bozbay?

Bozbay Bozkurt Boz Baykara Özbay Akbay Erbay Bozdağ Baykal Baykan Bayhan Boztepe Bayer
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Bozkurt same root – –
02 Boz same root – –
03 Baykara same root – –
04 Özbay same root – –
05 Akbay same root – –
06 Erbay same root – –
07 Bozdağ same root – –
08 Baykal same root – –
09 Baykan same root – –
10 Bayhan same root – –
11 Boztepe same root – –
12 Bayer same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Bozbay?

  1. Ahmet Hilmi Bozbay politician 1901–1968
  2. Zeynep Bozbay film actor 1992–
  3. Mehmet Bozbay researcher
  4. Süleyman Bozbay association football player 2005–

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Adlar: Bozbay accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: boz accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: bay 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

Common questions about Bozbay

Q1

What does the surname Bozbay mean?

Bozbay is formed from boz ‘grey, dun’ and bay ‘rich’. Boz is a common colour element in Turkish names (Bozkurt, Bozdağ), and bay meant ‘rich, noble’ in Old Turkic. Nişanyan Adlar, however, treats Bozbay as a form of Bozbey, ‘grey lord’, probably describing a grizzled, fairish colouring.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Bozbay?

Bozbay is made up of two elements: boz “grey, dun; uncultivated (land)” (Turkic) and bay “rich” (Turkic). There are 3 competing views on where Bozbay comes from, all set out on this page.
Q3

How do you pronounce Bozbay?

Boz·bay, 2 syllables; IPA: /bozˈbaj/.