Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,466

Gençay

Gençay /ɟenˈtʃaj/ ASCII Gencay

“young moon”1

Letters / syllables
6 / 2
Formation
Compound
Vowel harmony
mixed
Initial
G
Contents§1–§11
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6Notable people
  7. §7As a first name
  8. §8Abroad
  9. §9Sources
  10. §10Questions
  11. §11Related

How do you pronounce Gençay?

Gençay

IPA /ɟenˈtʃaj/

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

What does the surname Gençay mean?

Genç, “young”, joins ay, “moon”: “young moon”, the newly risen, waxing crescent. In Turkish names the moon stands for beauty and radiance, and genç adds freshness and growth. Gençay is also used as a man’s name.1,2

Grammar Compound: genç + ay.

That Gençay goes back to genç and ay is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Gençay made of?

Gençay breaks into 2 parts: genç (genç: young) + ay (ay: moon).

Gençay + root genç genç: young TURKIC genç “young; newly developing” root ay ay: moon TURKIC ay “moon” Gençay genç root genç: young genç TURKIC “young; newly developing” ay root ay: moon ay TURKIC “moon”
Gençay: parts and root words
  • genç Turkic — young; newly developing1
  • ay Turkic — moon2

How was the name Gençay formed?

Gençay belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (genç + ay).

Which surnames are related to Gençay?

Gençay Genç Gençer Ergenç Gençoğlu Gençtürk Özgenç Gençerler Karagenç
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Genç same root – –
02 Gençer same root – –
03 Ergenç same root – –
04 Gençoğlu same root – –
05 Gençtürk same root – –
06 Özgenç same root – –
07 Gençerler same root – –
08 Karagenç same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Gençay?

  1. Ali Gencay association football player 1905–1957
  2. Ramazan Gencay academic 1961–2018
  3. Güngör Gencay poet 1934–2012
  4. Eray Gencay computer scientist 1978–
  5. Gökçe Gencay researcher
  6. Koray Gencay researcher
  7. Yılmaz Emre Gencay researcher 2000–
  8. Zeynep Köylü Gencay researcher

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

Is Gençay also a first name?

Yes. Gençay is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “young moon”.

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

How is Gençay written and pronounced abroad?

Records without Turkish letters usually write Gencay.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: genç accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: ay 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
  6. 6 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Gençay

Q1

What does the surname Gençay mean?

Genç, “young”, joins ay, “moon”: “young moon”, the newly risen, waxing crescent. In Turkish names the moon stands for beauty and radiance, and genç adds freshness and growth. Gençay is also used as a man’s name.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Gençay?

The root word of Gençay is genç (Turkic): “young; newly developing”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Gençay?

Genç·ay, 2 syllables; IPA: /ɟenˈtʃaj/.