Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,342

Çankaya

Çankaya /tʃankaˈja/ ASCII Cankaya

“hill and district name in Ankara”1

Letters / syllables
7 / 3
Formation
Place name
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 Çankaya?

Çankaya

IPA /tʃankaˈja/

The stress usually falls on syllable 3 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Çankaya mean?

Çankaya is the name of a hill near Ankara and today of one of Ankara’s central districts; settlements of the same name also exist in Trabzon and Mardin. The place name is made of çan ‘bell’ and kaya ‘rock’. The surname is taken from this place name.1,3,4

Grammar çan + kaya: noun–noun compound, fixed as a proper name.

What is Çankaya made of?

Çankaya is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: çan (bell) + kaya (rock).

Çankaya ++ root çan bell TURKIC Çankaya “district of Ankara; alsovillage names” root kaya rock TURKIC çan “bell” TURKIC kaya “rock” Çankaya çan root bell Çankaya TURKIC “district of Ankara; also villagenames” kaya root rock çan TURKIC “bell” kaya TURKIC “rock”
Çankaya: parts and root words
  • Çankaya Turkic — district of Ankara; also village names1
  • çan Turkic — bell3
  • kaya Turkic — rock4

How was the name Çankaya formed?

Çankaya was formed by joining çan (“bell”) and kaya (“rock”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.7

Which surnames are related to Çankaya?

Çankaya Kaya Akkaya Çetinkaya Karakaya Sarıkaya Özkaya Yalçınkaya Kayalı Kızılkaya Şahinkaya Yerlikaya Kayacan
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Kaya same root 2 899,722
02 Akkaya same root – –
03 Çetinkaya same root – –
04 Karakaya same root – –
05 Sarıkaya same root – –
06 Özkaya same root – –
07 Yalçınkaya same root – –
08 Kayalı same root – –
09 Kızılkaya same root – –
10 Şahinkaya same root – –
11 Yerlikaya same root – –
12 Kayacan same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Çankaya?

  1. Atakan Çankaya association football player 1998–
  2. Sinan Çankaya writer 1982–
  3. Erol Çankaya author 1955–
  4. Gülümser Çankaya writer 1966–
  5. Mehmet Mesut Çankaya politician 1887–1950
  6. Mehmet Niyazi Çankaya researcher
  7. Nazım Çankaya poet 1936–

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

How is Çankaya written and pronounced abroad?

Outside Turkey the name is often written Cankaya.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Adlar: Çankaya accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Çankaya accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: çan accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: kaya accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Çankaya accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Çankaya

Q1

What does the surname Çankaya mean?

Çankaya is the name of a hill near Ankara and today of one of Ankara’s central districts; settlements of the same name also exist in Trabzon and Mardin. The place name is made of çan ‘bell’ and kaya ‘rock’. The surname is taken from this place name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çankaya?

Çankaya is made up of two elements: çan “bell” (Turkic) and kaya “rock” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Çankaya?

Çan·ka·ya, 3 syllables; IPA: /tʃankaˈja/.