Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,456

Çolak

Çolak /tʃoˈɫak/ ASCII Colak

“one-armed, maimed arm (byname)”2

Province lists
31
province top-30s
Letters / syllables
5 / 2
Formation
Adjective
Vowel harmony
back
Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Provinces
  7. §7Notable people
  8. §8Abroad
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Çolak?

Çolak

IPA /tʃoˈɫak/

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

What does the surname Çolak mean?

Çolak is said of a person whose arm or hand has lost its use, from birth or later; it goes back to Proto-Turkic *čol-. Such bodily bynames were common in the old Turkish naming tradition, and in 1934 many were registered as family names. Çolak is also recorded as a male given name.2

Çolak is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Çolak made of?

Çolak is a single Turkic root: çolak (having a disabled hand or arm).

Çolak root çolak having a disabled hand orarm TURKIC çolak “having a maimed ordisabled arm or hand” Çolak çolak root having a disabled hand or arm çolak TURKIC “having a maimed or disabled armor hand”
Çolak: parts and root words
  • çolak Turkic — having a maimed or disabled arm or hand2

How was the name Çolak formed?

Çolak is the adjective çolak (“having a disabled hand or arm”), taken unchanged as a surname.

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.6

Which surnames are related to Çolak?

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

Where in Türkiye is Çolak most common?

Çolak is outside the national top 30, but it appears in the top-30 lists of 3 provinces; its best rank is 10th in Rize.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 · rank 23 · 4,847 people Isparta Mersin Istanbul Izmir Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kırklareli Kırşehir Kocaeli Konya Kütahya Malatya Manisa Kahramanmaraş Mardin Muğla Muş Nevşehir Niğde Ordu Rize · rank 10 · 2,284 people Sakarya Samsun Siirt Sinop Sivas Tekirdağ Tokat Trabzon · rank 17 · 4,877 people Tunceli Şanlıurfa Uşak Van Yozgat Zonguldak Aksaray Bayburt Karaman Kırıkkale Batman Şırnak Bartın Ardahan Iğdır Yalova Karabük Kilis Osmaniye Düzce Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • In the province top 30 3
  • Not listed
Çolak: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Trabzon174,877
02Hatay234,847
03Rize102,284

Who are some well-known people named Çolak?

  1. Tanju Çolak association football player 1963–
  2. Emre Çolak association football player 1991–
  3. İbrahim Çolak artistic gymnast 1995–
  4. Halil Çolak association football player 1988–
  5. Mecnur Çolak association football player 1967–2021
  6. Emine Çolak politician 1958–
  7. Adnan Çolak serial killer 1967–
  8. Nuri Çolak association football player 1975–

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

How is Çolak written and pronounced abroad?

In passports and records outside Turkey Çolak is usually written Colak.

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 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: çolak accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: çolak accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Çolak accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Çolak

Q1

What does the surname Çolak mean?

Çolak is said of a person whose arm or hand has lost its use, from birth or later; it goes back to Proto-Turkic *čol-. Such bodily bynames were common in the old Turkish naming tradition, and in 1934 many were registered as family names. Çolak is also recorded as a male given name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Çolak?

The root word of Çolak is çolak (Turkic): “having a maimed or disabled arm or hand”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Çolak?

Ço·lak, 2 syllables; IPA: /tʃoˈɫak/.