Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 882

Cansu

Cansu /dʒanˈsu/

“soul + water”3

Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
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Initial
C
Contents§1–§10
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Sources
  9. §9Questions
  10. §10Related

How do you pronounce Cansu?

Cansu

IPA /dʒanˈsu/

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

What does the surname Cansu mean?

Cansu is a female name made of can ‘soul, life’ and su ‘water’; Nişanyan Adlar treats it as a compound of Can and Su, first heard after 1940 and very popular from the 1980s. Can comes from Persian jān ‘life, soul’, while su continues Old Turkic sub/suv.2,3

Grammar can + su; name compound.

What is Cansu made of?

Cansu breaks into 2 parts: can (soul, life; dear) + su (water).

Cansu + root can soul, life; dear PERSIAN can “life, soul” root su water TURKIC su “water” Cansu can root soul, life; dear can PERSIAN “life, soul” su root water su TURKIC “water”
Cansu: parts and root words
  • can Persian — life, soul3
  • su Turkic — water2

How was the name Cansu formed?

Cansu belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (can + su).

Which surnames are related to Cansu?

Cansu Özcan Can Ercan Demircan Candan Tezcan Karacan Babacan Gürcan Canpolat Arıcan Caner
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Özcan same root 25 233,820
02 Can same root 27 230,085
03 Ercan same root – –
04 Demircan same root – –
05 Candan same root – –
06 Tezcan same root – –
07 Karacan same root – –
08 Babacan same root – –
09 Gürcan same root – –
10 Canpolat same root – –
11 Arıcan same root – –
12 Caner same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Cansu?

  1. Ayşegül Cansu researcher
  2. Güven Barış Cansu researcher
  3. Serdar Cansu association football player 1991–

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

Is Cansu also a first name?

Yes. Cansu is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “soul + water”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 nisanyanadlar.com nisanyanadlar.com: Cansu accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: su accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: can 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
  6. 6 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Cansu

Q1

What does the surname Cansu mean?

Cansu is a female name made of can ‘soul, life’ and su ‘water’; Nişanyan Adlar treats it as a compound of Can and Su, first heard after 1940 and very popular from the 1980s. Can comes from Persian jān ‘life, soul’, while su continues Old Turkic sub/suv.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Cansu?

The root word of Cansu is can (Turkic): “life, soul”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Cansu?

Can·su, 2 syllables; IPA: /dʒanˈsu/.