Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,664

Karatay

Karatay /kaɾaˈtaj/

“black colt”1

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

How do you pronounce Karatay?

Karatay

IPA /kaɾaˈtaj/

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

What does the surname Karatay mean?

Kara ‘black’ joins tay ‘colt, young horse’: ‘black colt’. Karatay is an old name attested since the Seljuk period and is today also the name of a district of Konya, which the surname may reflect.1,2

Grammar Adjective-plus-noun compound: kara + tay.

That Karatay goes back to kara and tay is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Karatay made of?

Karatay is Turkic in origin and breaks into 2 parts: kara (black; strong) + tay (colt, foal).

Karatay + first element kara black; strong TURKIC kara “black; figurativelystrong” root tay colt, foal TURKIC tay “colt, foal up to threeyears old” Karatay kara first element black; strong kara TURKIC “black; figuratively strong” tay root colt, foal tay TURKIC “colt, foal up to three years old”
Karatay: parts and root words
  • kara Turkic — black; figuratively strong1
  • tay Turkic — colt, foal up to three years old2

How was the name Karatay formed?

Karatay was formed by joining kara (“black; strong”) and tay (“colt, foal”).

Shared note · 1934Surnames became compulsory with Surname Law No. 2525 of 21 June 1934.7

Which surnames are related to Karatay?

Karatay Kara Karataş Karahan Karaca Karakaş Karadağ Karakaya Karakoç Karaaslan Karagöz Baykara Karabulut
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Kara same root 16 290,024
02 Karataş same root – –
03 Karahan same root – –
04 Karaca same root – –
05 Karakaş same root – –
06 Karadağ same root – –
07 Karakaya same root – –
08 Karakoç same root – –
09 Karaaslan same root – –
10 Karagöz same root – –
11 Baykara same root – –
12 Karabulut same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Karatay?

  1. Nefise Karatay actor 1976–
  2. Mertol Karatay association football player 1975–
  3. Zafer Karatay journalist 1958–
  4. Dursun Karatay association football player 1984–
  5. Canan Karatay physician 1943–
  6. Ibo Karatay film director 1979–
  7. Osman Karatay historian 1971–
  8. Ahmet Karatay researcher

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

Is Karatay also a first name?

Yes. Karatay is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “black colt”.

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: tay accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Wikimedia Wiktionary: kara accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: tay accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Karatay accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  9. 9 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 9 November 2026

Common questions about Karatay

Q1

What does the surname Karatay mean?

Kara ‘black’ joins tay ‘colt, young horse’: ‘black colt’. Karatay is an old name attested since the Seljuk period and is today also the name of a district of Konya, which the surname may reflect.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Karatay?

Karatay is made up of two elements: kara “black; figuratively strong” (Turkic) and tay “colt, foal up to three years old” (Turkic).
Q3

How do you pronounce Karatay?

Ka·ra·tay, 3 syllables; IPA: /kaɾaˈtaj/.