Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 992

Çeken

Çeken /tʃeˈken/ ASCII Ceken

“one who pulls; one who endures”1

Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
From a verb
Vowel harmony
front
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 Çeken?

Çeken

IPA /tʃeˈken/

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

What does the surname Çeken mean?

Çeken is the participle of çekmek: “one who pulls”. Besides pulling and dragging, çekmek also means enduring hardship in Turkish; Wiktionary traces the verb to Proto-Turkic *ček-. No source says which sense is meant in the surname.1

Grammar çek- + -en (participle).

That Çeken goes back to çekmek is probable rather than proven: the dictionary entry cited supports it.

What is Çeken made of?

Çeken breaks into 2 parts: çek- (to pull; to endure) + -en (present participle).

Çeken + root çek- to pull; to endure TURKIC çekmek “to pull, draw; to endure” suffix -en present participle Çeken çek- root to pull; to endure çekmek TURKIC “to pull, draw; to endure” -en suffix present participle
Çeken: parts and root words
  • çekmek Turkic — to pull, draw; to endure1

How was the name Çeken formed?

Çeken belongs to the “from a verb” class of surnames (çek- + -en).

Which surnames are related to Çeken?

Çeken Çekmez Çekim
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Çekmez same root – –
02 Çekim same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Çeken?

  1. Çağatay Çeken association football player 1992–
  2. İpek Çeken actor 1966–
  3. Bera Çeken association football player 2005–
  4. Birsen Çeken painter 1962–

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

How is Çeken written and pronounced abroad?

Outside Turkey the name is often written Ceken.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Wiktionary: çekmek accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Çeken

Q1

What does the surname Çeken mean?

Çeken is the participle of çekmek: “one who pulls”. Besides pulling and dragging, çekmek also means enduring hardship in Turkish; Wiktionary traces the verb to Proto-Turkic *ček-. No source says which sense is meant in the surname.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çeken?

The root word of Çeken is çekmek (Turkic): “to pull, draw; to endure”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çeken?

Çe·ken, 2 syllables; IPA: /tʃeˈken/.