Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 997

Çelebi

Çelebi /tʃeleˈbi/ ASCII Celebi

“gentleman; Ottoman title”2

Province lists
21
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
6 / 3
Formation
Plain noun
Vowel harmony
front
Contents§1–§12
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8As a first name
  9. §9Abroad
  10. §10Sources
  11. §11Questions
  12. §12Related

How do you pronounce Çelebi?

Çelebi

IPA /tʃeleˈbi/

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

What does the surname Çelebi mean?

Çelebi was an Ottoman title for princes, leading figures of the dervish orders and educated, well-bred men, as in Evliya Çelebi and Kâtip Çelebi. Today it means a courteous, refined gentleman. Wiktionary derives it from Old Anatolian Turkish Çalap, “God”, whose own origin is unclear.2,3

The origin is disputed. The views put forward are:

  1. According to Wiktionary, çelebi is Çalap “God” plus the suffix -î, “of God, venerable”.
  2. The origin of Çalap itself is unclear, so dictionaries mention differing proposals for çelebi.

Çelebi is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Çelebi made of?

Çelebi is a single root: çelebi (gentleman; Ottoman title of princes and notables).

Çelebi + root çelebi gentleman; Ottoman titleof princes and notables TURKIC çelebi “well-bred gentleman;Ottoman honorific” TURKIC Çalap “Old Anatolian Turkish:God” Çelebi çelebi root gentleman; Ottoman title of princesand notables çelebi TURKIC “well-bred gentleman; Ottomanhonorific” Çalap TURKIC “Old Anatolian Turkish: God”
Çelebi: parts and root words
  • çelebi Turkic — well-bred gentleman; Ottoman honorific2
  • Çalap Turkic — Old Anatolian Turkish: God3

How was the name Çelebi formed?

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

Which surnames are related to Çelebi?

#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Çelebioğlu same root – –

Where in Türkiye is Çelebi most common?

Çelebi is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 2 provinces; its best rank is 22nd in Kilis.1

Adana Adıyaman Afyonkarahisar Ağrı Amasya Ankara Antalya Artvin Aydın Balıkesir Bilecik Bingöl Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Çanakkale Çankırı Çorum Denizli Diyarbakır Edirne Elazığ Erzincan Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep Giresun Gümüşhane Hakkari Hatay Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray · rank 23 · 1,561 people Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis · rank 22 · 638 people Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 2
  • Not listed
Çelebi: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Aksaray231,561
02Kilis22638

Who are some well-known people named Çelebi?

  1. Hasan Çelebi calligrapher 1937–2025
  2. Süleyman Çelebi writer 1351–1422
  3. Gazi Çelebi military officer 1310–
  4. Alpay Çelebi association football player 1999–
  5. Asaf Halet Çelebi poet 1907–1958
  6. Ekin Çelebi association football player 2000–
  7. Can Çelebi handball player 1990–
  8. Ekrem Çelebi politician 1965–

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

Is Çelebi also a first name?

Yes. Çelebi is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “gentleman; Ottoman title”.

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

How is Çelebi written and pronounced abroad?

In passports and records outside Turkey Çelebi is usually written Celebi.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: çelebi accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Çalap 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 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Çelebi

Q1

What does the surname Çelebi mean?

Çelebi was an Ottoman title for princes, leading figures of the dervish orders and educated, well-bred men, as in Evliya Çelebi and Kâtip Çelebi. Today it means a courteous, refined gentleman. Wiktionary derives it from Old Anatolian Turkish Çalap, “God”, whose own origin is unclear.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çelebi?

The root word of Çelebi is çelebi (Turkic): “well-bred gentleman; Ottoman honorific”. There are 3 competing views on where Çelebi comes from, all set out on this page.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çelebi?

Çe·le·bi, 3 syllables; IPA: /tʃeleˈbi/.