Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,439

Çileli

Çileli /tʃileˈli/ ASCII Cileli

“long-suffering, full of hardship”1

Letters / syllables
6 / 3
Formation
Suffixed
Vowel harmony
front
Initial
Ç
Contents§1–§9
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Notable people
  6. §6Abroad
  7. §7Sources
  8. §8Questions
  9. §9Related

How do you pronounce Çileli?

Çileli

IPA /tʃileˈli/

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

What does the surname Çileli mean?

Çile comes from Persian chilla “a period of forty days”: in Sufi orders the forty-day retreat of fasting and seclusion, in everyday speech hardship and ordeal. Çileli means “full of hardship, long-suffering”. Çile “skein of yarn” is a separate word.1

Çileli is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Çileli made of?

Çileli is Persian in origin and breaks into 2 parts: çile (çile: ordeal, hardship; a dervish’s forty-day retreat) + -li (possessive adjective suffix).

Çileli + root çile çile: ordeal, hardship; adervish’s forty-day… PERSIAN çile “ordeal; forty-dayretreat” suffix -li possessive adjectivesuffix Çileli çile root çile: ordeal, hardship; a dervish’sforty-day retreat çile PERSIAN “ordeal; forty-day retreat” -li suffix possessive adjective suffix
Çileli: parts and root words
  • çile Persian — ordeal; forty-day retreat1

How was the name Çileli formed?

Çileli was formed by adding the suffix -li (“possessive adjective suffix”) to çile (“çile: ordeal, hardship; a dervish’s forty-day retreat”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.3

Who are some well-known people named Çileli?

  1. Serap Çileli opinion journalist 1966–

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

How is Çileli written and pronounced abroad?

In English-language records ç becomes c (or ch), giving Cileli.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: çile accessed 9 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

Common questions about Çileli

Q1

What does the surname Çileli mean?

Çile comes from Persian chilla “a period of forty days”: in Sufi orders the forty-day retreat of fasting and seclusion, in everyday speech hardship and ordeal. Çileli means “full of hardship, long-suffering”. Çile “skein of yarn” is a separate word.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çileli?

The root word of Çileli is çile (Persian): “ordeal; forty-day retreat”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çileli?

Çi·le·li, 3 syllables; IPA: /tʃileˈli/.