Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 951

Çalıkuşu

Çalıkuşu /tʃaɫɯkuˈʃu/ ASCII Calikusu

“bush bird, a songbird”2

Letters / syllables
8 / 4
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
back
Initial
Ç
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 Çalıkuşu?

Çalıkuşu

IPA /tʃaɫɯkuˈʃu/

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

What does the surname Çalıkuşu mean?

Çalıkuşu is the name of a small, lively songbird of the bushes; the word is built from çalı, “bush”, and kuş, “bird”. The name became widely known through Reşat Nuri Güntekin’s novel Çalıkuşu, published in 1922; Nişanyan Adlar notes that its use as a personal name was inspired by the novel or the television series based on it.1,2

Grammar çalı + kuş + -u (possessive): indefinite noun compound.

Çalıkuşu is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Çalıkuşu made of?

Çalıkuşu breaks into 2 parts: çalı (bush, shrub) + kuş-u (bird (with possessive)).

Çalıkuşu ++ root çalı bush, shrub TURKIC çalı “shrub, bush” suffix kuş-u bird (with possessive) TURKIC kuş “bird” Çalıkuşu çalı root bush, shrub çalı TURKIC “shrub, bush” kuş-u suffix bird (with possessive) kuş TURKIC “bird”
Çalıkuşu: parts and root words
  • çalı Turkic — shrub, bush2
  • kuş Turkic — bird1

How was the name Çalıkuşu formed?

Çalıkuşu belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (çalı + kuş-u).

Which surnames are related to Çalıkuşu?

Çalıkuşu Karakuş Akkuş Kuş Kuşçu Alakuş Kuşoğlu
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Karakuş same root – –
02 Akkuş same root – –
03 Kuş same root – –
04 Kuşçu same root – –
05 Alakuş same root – –
06 Kuşoğlu same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Çalıkuşu?

  1. Nevzat Çalıkuşu writer 1955–
  2. Ece Çalıkuşu researcher 1990–
  3. İsmail Çalıkuşu basketball player 1975–

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

How is Çalıkuşu written and pronounced abroad?

Outside Turkey the name is often written Calikusu. In Turkish, the dotless ı is a short unrounded vowel, close to the vowel in the second syllable of “cousin”; ş sounds like English sh; ç sounds like English ch in “church”.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 nisanyanadlar.com nisanyanadlar.com: Çalıkuşu accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: çalı 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

Common questions about Çalıkuşu

Q1

What does the surname Çalıkuşu mean?

Çalıkuşu is the name of a small, lively songbird of the bushes; the word is built from çalı, “bush”, and kuş, “bird”. The name became widely known through Reşat Nuri Güntekin’s novel Çalıkuşu, published in 1922; Nişanyan Adlar notes that its use as a personal name was inspired by the novel or the television series based on it.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çalıkuşu?

The root word of Çalıkuşu is çalı (Turkic): “shrub, bush”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çalıkuşu?

Ça·lı·ku·şu, 4 syllables; IPA: /tʃaɫɯkuˈʃu/.