Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 976

Çatak

Çatak /tʃaˈtak/ ASCII Catak

“ravine between two slopes”2

Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
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 Çatak?

Çatak

IPA /tʃaˈtak/

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

What does the surname Çatak mean?

Çatak is a word of Anatolian dialects for the stream bed where two mountain slopes meet; the senses ‘joined, twin (fruit)’ and ‘quarrelsome’ are also recorded. The same form names a district of Van and many villages; the district name in Van comes from Armenian Šatax.2

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

  1. As a common noun, çatak is a dialect word for a ravine between two slopes.
  2. The name of the Çatak district in Van, however, comes from the Armenian place name Šatax.

What is Çatak made of?

Çatak is a single root: çatak (çatak: ravine where two slopes meet; joined, twin).

Çatak + root çatak çatak: ravine where twoslopes meet; joined, twin TURKIC çatak “ravine between twoslopes; joined (fruit);…” ARMENIAN Çatak “district of Van; fromArmenian Šatax” Çatak çatak root çatak: ravine where two slopes meet;joined, twin çatak TURKIC “ravine between two slopes;joined (fruit); quarrelsome” Çatak ARMENIAN “district of Van; from ArmenianŠatax”
Çatak: parts and root words
  • çatak Turkic — ravine between two slopes; joined (fruit); quarrelsome2
  • Çatak Armenian — district of Van; from Armenian Šatax2

How was the name Çatak formed?

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

Which surnames are related to Çatak?

#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Çıtak same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Çatak?

  1. Berkay Çatak entrepreneur 2001–
  2. Cihan Çatak researcher
  3. İlker Çatak actor 1984–

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

How is Çatak written and pronounced abroad?

Outside Türkiye the name is usually written Catak.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: çatak accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Çatak 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 Çatak

Q1

What does the surname Çatak mean?

Çatak is a word of Anatolian dialects for the stream bed where two mountain slopes meet; the senses ‘joined, twin (fruit)’ and ‘quarrelsome’ are also recorded. The same form names a district of Van and many villages; the district name in Van comes from Armenian Šatax.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çatak?

The root word of Çatak is çatak (Turkic): “ravine between two slopes; joined (fruit); quarrelsome”. There are 3 competing views on where Çatak comes from, all set out on this page.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çatak?

Ça·tak, 2 syllables; IPA: /tʃaˈtak/.