Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 1,595

Günay

Günay /ɡyˈnaj/ ASCII Gunay

“sun and moon”1

Letters / syllables
5 / 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 Günay?

Günay

IPA /ɡyˈnaj/

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

What does the surname Günay mean?

Made of gün “sun” and ay “moon”; naming sun and moon together, it stands for brightness and beauty. Günay is mostly a girl’s name, sometimes a boy’s.1

Grammar Coordinative compound gün + ay.

That Günay goes back to gün and ay is probable rather than proven: the dictionary entry cited supports it.

What is Günay made of?

Günay breaks into 2 parts: gün (gün: sun) + ay (ay: moon).

Günay ++ root gün gün: sun TURKIC gün “sun; day” suffix ay ay: moon TURKIC ay “moon” Günay gün root gün: sun gün TURKIC “sun; day” ay suffix ay: moon ay TURKIC “moon”
Günay: parts and root words
  • gün Turkic — sun; day1
  • ay Turkic — moon1

How was the name Günay formed?

Günay belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (gün + ay).

Which surnames are related to Günay?

Günay Güngör Güner Akgün Güney Ergün Gündoğdu Aygün Günaydın Günal Gün Gündoğan Şengün
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Güngör same root – –
02 Güner same root – –
03 Akgün same root – –
04 Güney same root – –
05 Ergün same root – –
06 Gündoğdu same root – –
07 Aygün same root – –
08 Günaydın same root – –
09 Günal same root – –
10 Gün same root – –
11 Gündoğan same root – –
12 Şengün same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Günay?

  1. Ertuğrul Günay politician 1948–
  2. İzzet Günay actor 1934–
  3. Ayşegül Günay basketball player 1992–
  4. Metin Günay film director 1963–
  5. Ayşegül Günay actor 1969–
  6. Ebru Günay politician 1982–
  7. Emine Nur Günay politician 1962–
  8. Peri Suzan Günay physician 1959–

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

Is Günay also a first name?

Yes. Günay is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “sun and moon”.

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

How is Günay written and pronounced abroad?

English-language records usually print Günay as Gunay, dropping the diacritics.

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: Günay accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Vikipedi: Günay 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 Günay

Q1

What does the surname Günay mean?

Made of gün “sun” and ay “moon”; naming sun and moon together, it stands for brightness and beauty. Günay is mostly a girl’s name, sometimes a boy’s.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Günay?

The root word of Günay is gün (Turkic): “sun; day”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Günay?

Gü·nay, 2 syllables; IPA: /ɡyˈnaj/.