Türkiye Soyadları A sourced dictionary of Turkish surnames

SURNAMEEntry 2,067

Kocakaya

Kocakaya /kodʒakaˈja/

“huge rock”1

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

How do you pronounce Kocakaya?

Kocakaya

IPA /kodʒakaˈja/

The stress usually falls on syllable 4 (marked). In everyday Turkish, stress in surnames varies by speaker and region.

What does the surname Kocakaya mean?

From koca ‘big, huge’ and kaya ‘rock’: ‘huge rock’. Nişanyan traces koca to Middle Turkish hoca ‘respected man, master’ and notes that it was used as an equivalent of Persian χodā ‘lord’. The head of the compound is Turkish kaya.1,2

Grammar koca + kaya.

That Kocakaya goes back to koca and kaya is probable rather than proven: the dictionaries cited agree on it.

What is Kocakaya made of?

Kocakaya breaks into 2 parts: koca (big, huge) + kaya (rock).

Kocakaya + root koca big, huge TURKIC koca “big; old” root kaya rock TURKIC kaya “rock” Kocakaya koca root big, huge koca TURKIC “big; old” kaya root rock kaya TURKIC “rock”
Kocakaya: parts and root words
  • koca Turkic — big; old1
  • kaya Turkic — rock2

How was the name Kocakaya formed?

Kocakaya belongs to the “compound” class of surnames (koca + kaya).

Which surnames are related to Kocakaya?

Kocakaya Kaya Akkaya Koca Çetinkaya Karakaya Sarıkaya Özkaya Yalçınkaya Kocabaş Kocatürk Kayalı Kocaoğlu
Circle area shows the number of bearers; dashed circle: no national count published. Solid line: same root; dashed line: same affix.
#SurnameRelationRankPeople
01 Kaya same root 2 899,722
02 Akkaya same root – –
03 Koca same root – –
04 Çetinkaya same root – –
05 Karakaya same root – –
06 Sarıkaya same root – –
07 Özkaya same root – –
08 Yalçınkaya same root – –
09 Kocabaş same root – –
10 Kocatürk same root – –
11 Kayalı same root – –
12 Kocaoğlu same root – –

Who are some well-known people named Kocakaya?

  1. Servet Kocakaya singer 1973–
  2. Mustafa Kocakaya botanist
  3. Afşın Kocakaya researcher
  4. Deniz Kocakaya association football player 1987–

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

Where do these facts come from?

  1. 1 Sevan Nişanyan Nişanyan Sözlük: koca accessed 8 November 2026
  2. 2 Wikimedia Wiktionary: kaya 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 Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK)ADNKS TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS) accessed 8 November 2026

Common questions about Kocakaya

Q1

What does the surname Kocakaya mean?

From koca ‘big, huge’ and kaya ‘rock’: ‘huge rock’. Nişanyan traces koca to Middle Turkish hoca ‘respected man, master’ and notes that it was used as an equivalent of Persian χodā ‘lord’. The head of the compound is Turkish kaya.
Q2

What is the origin of the surname Kocakaya?

The root word of Kocakaya is koca (Turkic): “big; old”.
Q3

How do you pronounce Kocakaya?

Ko·ca·ka·ya, 4 syllables; IPA: /kodʒakaˈja/.