Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMENo. 2

ADNKS 2025

Kaya

Kaya /kaˈja/

“rock, crag”6

#2 The 2nd most common surname in Türkiye 899,722 peopleTÜİK ADNKS 20251

National rank
21
ADNKS 2025
People
899,7221
ADNKS 2025
Per 1,000
10.52
1 in 96
Rank change
±01
vs 2024
Letters / syllables
4 / 2
Formation
Plain noun
Contents§1–§16
  1. §1Pronunciation
  2. §2Meaning
  3. §3Root tree
  4. §4Formation & 1934
  5. §5Name family
  6. §6How many
  7. §7Rank history
  8. §8Provinces
  9. §9Classroom maths
  10. §10Compared
  11. §11Full names
  12. §12Notable people
  13. §13As a first name
  14. §14Sources
  15. §15Questions
  16. §16Related

How do you pronounce Kaya?

Kaya

IPA /kaˈja/

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

What does the surname Kaya mean?

A kaya is a large, hard mass of rock rising out of the ground, a word Turkish has used since its oldest records. As a surname it carries the image of firmness and endurance, something that cannot be shaken. Kaya is also a male given name.6

Kaya is also an ordinary word in everyday Turkish.

What is Kaya made of?

Kaya is a single root: kaya (large mass of hard rock).

Kaya root kaya large mass of hard rock TURKIC kaya “rock, large rock mass;cliff” Kaya kaya root large mass of hard rock kaya TURKIC “rock, large rock mass; cliff”
Kaya: parts and root words
  • kaya Turkic — rock, large rock mass; cliff6

How was the name Kaya formed?

Kaya belongs to the “plain noun” class of surnames.

Which surnames are related to Kaya?

Kaya Akkaya Çetinkaya Karakaya Sarıkaya Özkaya Yalçınkaya Kayalı Kızılkaya Şahinkaya Yerlikaya Kayacan Kayalar
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Akkaya same root – –
02 Çetinkaya same root – –
03 Karakaya same root – –
04 Sarıkaya same root – –
05 Özkaya same root – –
06 Yalçınkaya same root – –
07 Kayalı same root – –
08 Kızılkaya same root – –
09 Şahinkaya same root – –
10 Yerlikaya same root – –
11 Kayacan same root – –
12 Kayalar same root – –

How many people in Türkiye are called Kaya?

Kaya is the second most common surname, 278,174 behind Yılmaz and 22,788 ahead of Demir.1

Bearers by year

TÜİK · ADNKS · 2018–2025 840 k 860 k 880 k 900 k 20182019202020212022202320242025 847,737 858,398 866,547 875,113 883,067 888,828 894,360 899,722 TÜİK · ADNKS · 2018–2025 840 k 860 k 880 k 900 k ’18’20’22’24’25 847,737 858,398 866,547 875,113 883,067 888,828 894,360 899,722
People with the surname Kaya, 2018–2025 (TÜİK ADNKS) Vertical axis does not start at zero.

Kaya is growing faster than Türkiye’s population: up 51,985 people (6.1%) since 2018, against 5.0% for the population as a whole. Its absolute gain is the second largest in the top 10. It has held 2nd place every year since 2018.1,2

NVİ NVİ, a separate register, reported 1,154,158 people named Kaya for 2021. NVİ and ADNKS count different populations, so we never chart them together.3

How has Kaya ranked over the years?

Source: TÜİK, address-based population register. Each row is that year’s record.
YearRankPeopleChangeSource
2025 2 899,722 +5,362 [1]
2024 2 894,360 +5,532 [1]
2023 2 888,828 +5,761 [1]
2022 2 883,067 +7,954 [1]
2021 2 875,113 +8,566 [1]
2020 2 866,547 +8,149 [1]
2019 2 858,398 +10,661 [1]
2018 2 847,737 – [1]

Where in Türkiye is Kaya most common?

Kaya tops the list only in Ağrı, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Hakkari and Kars, but is in the top three in 46 provinces.1

Adana · rank 2 · 23,859 people Adıyaman · rank 2 · 8,175 people Afyonkarahisar · rank 9 · 4,708 people Ağrı · rank 1 · 15,283 people Amasya · rank 4 · 3,386 people Ankara · rank 4 · 51,478 people Antalya · rank 2 · 27,549 people Artvin · rank 8 · 1,476 people Aydın · rank 2 · 10,652 people Balıkesir · rank 2 · 10,079 people Bilecik · rank 2 · 2,574 people Bingöl · rank 1 · 3,873 people Bitlis · rank 4 · 3,102 people Bolu · rank 12 · 1,996 people Burdur · rank 3 · 2,832 people Bursa · rank 3 · 31,926 people Çanakkale · rank 2 · 5,304 people Çankırı · rank 4 · 1,867 people Çorum · rank 3 · 5,211 people Denizli · rank 3 · 7,527 people Diyarbakır · rank 1 · 35,014 people Edirne · rank 4 · 2,457 people Elazığ · rank 2 · 11,108 people Erzincan · rank 2 · 3,081 people Erzurum · rank 2 · 10,367 people Eskişehir · rank 2 · 8,660 people Gaziantep · rank 2 · 38,340 people Giresun · rank 5 · 5,029 people Gümüşhane · rank 2 · 2,498 people Hakkari · rank 1 · 6,144 people Hatay · rank 2 · 12,124 people Isparta · rank 3 · 5,020 people Mersin · rank 3 · 19,806 people Istanbul · rank 2 · 163,476 people Izmir · rank 2 · 40,789 people Kars · rank 1 · 6,129 people Kastamonu · rank 4 · 3,344 people Kayseri · rank 6 · 12,565 people Kırklareli · rank 3 · 2,200 people Kırşehir · rank 3 · 3,358 people Kocaeli · rank 2 · 22,694 people Konya · rank 3 · 17,455 people Kütahya · rank 6 · 4,325 people Malatya · rank 3 · 9,455 people Manisa · rank 2 · 14,621 people Kahramanmaraş · rank 3 · 10,414 people Mardin · rank 3 · 12,273 people Muğla · rank 2 · 10,839 people Muş · rank 9 · 3,868 people Nevşehir · rank 5 · 2,515 people Niğde · rank 11 · 2,336 people Ordu · rank 8 · 5,310 people Rize · rank 19 · 1,554 people Sakarya · rank 4 · 8,913 people Samsun · rank 3 · 16,690 people Siirt · rank 5 · 3,048 people Sinop · rank 5 · 2,638 people Sivas · rank 5 · 9,062 people Tekirdağ · rank 2 · 11,069 people Tokat · rank 4 · 7,796 people Trabzon · rank 12 · 4,997 people Tunceli · rank 6 · 1,076 people Şanlıurfa · rank 3 · 33,035 people Uşak · rank 2 · 4,705 people Van · rank 2 · 15,328 people Yozgat · rank 5 · 3,653 people Zonguldak · rank 7 · 3,880 people Aksaray · rank 11 · 2,748 people Bayburt · rank 3 · 784 people Karaman · rank 6 · 1,974 people Kırıkkale · rank 11 · 1,466 people Batman · rank 4 · 8,963 people Şırnak · rank 6 · 3,741 people Bartın · rank 2 · 2,342 people Ardahan · rank 4 · 1,688 people Iğdır · rank 2 · 2,776 people Yalova · rank 4 · 3,093 people Karabük · rank 3 · 2,456 people Kilis · rank 4 · 2,179 people Osmaniye · rank 3 · 4,776 people Düzce · rank 11 · 2,821 people Hover or focus a province · ADNKS 2025
  • Most common surname (#1) 5
  • In the top three (#2–3) 41
  • In the province top 30 35
  • Not listed
Kaya: rank by province, 2025 (TÜİK ADNKS, province top-30 lists)
Provinces with the most bearers
#ProvinceRankPeople
01Istanbul2163,476
02Ankara451,478
03Izmir240,789
04Gaziantep238,340
05Diyarbakır135,014
06Şanlıurfa333,035
Provinces where it is #1 5
  • Ağrı
  • Bingöl
  • Diyarbakır
  • Hakkari
  • Kars

How often would you meet a Kaya?

In a school of 1,000 pupils you would expect about 10 Kayas.

In a class of 30, the chance that at least one pupil is a Kaya is about 27%.

About 10.4 Kayas in a group of 1,000

899,722 ÷ 86,092,168 × 1,000 ≈ 10.5 1,2

The calculation divides bearers by the 2025 ADNKS population; a real school or class will differ by region.

How does Kaya compare with similar surnames?

Surnames in the “Mountains, rocks and stones” category and the Kaya family:

  1. 1 Yılmaz 1,177,896
  2. 2 Kaya 899,722
  3. 3 Demir 876,934
  4. 4 Çelik 717,655
  5. 30 Aktaş 222,711
Surnames from the same category and family with a published national count (TÜİK ADNKS 2025)

Kaya and Demir are carried by almost exactly as many people.

How many people are called Mehmet Kaya?

These are estimates that assume given names and surnames are independent. In reality, families and regions do not choose names independently, so read them as orders of magnitude.

#Full nameEstimated people
01 Mehmet Kaya ≈13,292estimate
02 Fatma Kaya ≈12,041estimate
03 Mustafa Kaya ≈11,053estimate
04 Ayşe Kaya ≈9,477estimate
05 Ahmet Kaya ≈8,957estimate

people(given name) × people(surname) ÷ population1,2,8

Who are some well-known people named Kaya?

  1. Hazal Kaya actor 1990–
  2. Ahmet Kaya singer 1957–2000
  3. Semih Kaya association football player 1991–
  4. Özlem Kaya athletics competitor 1990–
  5. Şükrü Kaya politician 1883–1959
  6. Halil Kaya amateur wrestler 1920–2000
  7. Suat Kaya association football player 1967–
  8. Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya politician 1981–

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

Is Kaya also a first name?

Yes. Kaya is given as a first name too, carrying the same sense: “rock, crag”.

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

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 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK ADNKS: Cinsiyete göre nüfus, Türkiye ve 81 il accessed 8 November 2026
  3. 3 Anadolu Ajansı (figures: NVİ, İçişleri Bakanlığı)NVİ AA (17 Jul 2021): Türkiye'de en yaygın kullanılan soyadları Yılmaz, Kaya ve Demir — NVİ figures accessed 8 November 2026
  4. 4 Wikimedia Wiktionary: kaya accessed 8 November 2026
  5. 5 Wikimedia Vikisözlük: kaya accessed 8 November 2026
  6. 6 Wikimedia Wiktionary: Kaya accessed 8 November 2026
  7. 7 Wikimedia Foundation Wikidata: people with this family name accessed 8 November 2026
  8. 8 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı — En çok kullanılan isimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026
  9. 9 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2525) accessed 8 November 2026
  10. 10 T.C. Resmî Gazete / Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr) Soyadı Nizamnamesi (Bakanlar Kurulu Kararı 2/1759) accessed 8 November 2026
  11. 11 Natural Earth Natural Earth: Admin-1 boundaries accessed 8 November 2026
  12. 12 turkiyenames.com Türkiye İsimleri (turkiyenames.com) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Kaya

Q1

What does the surname Kaya mean?

A kaya is a large, hard mass of rock rising out of the ground, a word Turkish has used since its oldest records. As a surname it carries the image of firmness and endurance, something that cannot be shaken. Kaya is also a male given name.
Q2

How many people in Türkiye have the surname Kaya?

899,722 people, according to TÜİK ADNKS 2025, which places it at number 2 in Türkiye.
Q3

In which provinces is Kaya the most common surname?

In the TÜİK ADNKS 2025 province lists it ranks first in Ağrı, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Hakkari and Kars.
Q4

What is the origin of the surname Kaya?

The root word of Kaya is kaya (Turkic): “rock, large rock mass; cliff”.
Q5

How do you pronounce Kaya?

Ka·ya, 2 syllables; IPA: /kaˈja/.