Surname index·Letter
Surnames beginning with Ç
141 of the dictionary’s 3,450 surnames begin with Ç (4.1%). 3 of them are in the national top 30; the most common is Çelik, ranked 4th with 717,655 people (TÜİK ADNKS 2025). Next come Çetin (15th) and Çakır (24th).
- Surnames
- 141
- in this index
- Most common
- Çelik
- 717,655 people
141 surnames in Turkish alphabetical order
- Çabuk quick, nimble
- Çağan white; pure
- Çağatay Chaghatai, son of Genghis Khan
- Çağıran one who calls; one who sings out
- Çağlar rushing, gushing (water)
- Çağlayan cascade, small waterfall
- Çağlayangil the Çağlayan family; waterfall
- Çağlıyan cascade, rushing water
- Çağrı saker falcon; call, invitation
- Çaka name of Çaka Bey
- Çakal jackal
- Çakan flashing, striking fire
- Çakar flashing; lightning
- Çakı pocket knife
- Çakıcı penknife maker, cutler
- Çakın spark
- Çakır grey-blue (of eyes) #24
- Çakıroğlu son of Çakır (“grey-eyed”)
- Çakmak lighter; flint
- Çakmakçı maker of fire strikers and gunlocks
- Çakmaklı flintlock gun
- Çakmakoğlu son of Çakmak
- Çako form of Çeko, a hero in Mem û Zîn
- Çalık crooked, askew; place name
- Çalıkuşu bush bird, a songbird
- Çalış work!, strive
- Çalışır hard-working
- Çalışkan hard-working, diligent
- Çalışkaner hard-working man
- Çalışkanoğlu son of the hard-working one
- Çallı from Çal
- Çam pine
- Çambel pine-covered pass
- Çamcı pine-wood or resin worker
- Çamdalı pine branch
- Çamkerten pine-notcher
- Çamkıran pine-breaker
- Çamlıbel pine-covered pass
- Çamlıca pine-covered place; place name
- Çanak earthenware bowl
- Çanakçı potter
- Çandar Çandar (historical place name)
- Çankaya hill and district name in Ankara
- Çanlı from Çan; with a bell
- Çapa hoe
- Çapan swift rider, raider
- Çapanoğlu son of Çapan
- Çapar courier; dappled
- Çapkınoğlu son of the playful one
- Çatak ravine between two slopes
- Çatal fork
- Çavdar rye
- Çavdaroğlu son of Çavdar
- Çavuş sergeant
- Çavuşoğlu son of the sergeant
- Çay stream, small river
- Çayan scorpion
- Çayır meadow, pasture
- Çayırlı with meadows
- Çaykara district in Trabzon
- Çaylıgil the Çaylı family; by the stream
- Çayoğlu son of the stream (or tea)
- Çebi a form of the tribal name Çepni
- Çeçen name of a people; Kazakh/Kyrgyz “orator”
- Çehre face, countenance
- Çeken one who pulls; one who endures
- Çekiç hammer
- Çekim attraction, appeal
- Çekirge grasshopper
- Çekmez ‘does not pull, does not endure’
- Çelebi gentleman; Ottoman title
- Çelebioğlu son of the gentleman
- Çelen eaves
- Çelenk wreath; plume
- Çelik steel; tough, resilient #4
- Çelikay bright as steel
- Çelikbaş steel-headed
- Çelikbilek steel-wristed, strong
- Çelikel steel hand; steel-firm realm
- Çeliker man tough as steel
- Çelikkan steel-blooded
- Çelikkol arm of steel
- Çelikler the Çelik family; steels
- Çelikten of steel
- Çelikyurt homeland of steel
- Çene jaw, chin; talkativeness
- Çenet seed-pod valve; shell half
- Çengel hook
- Çerçi itinerant pedlar
- Çerkez Circassian
- Çete armed band
- Çetin tough, hardy, unyielding #15
- Çetinaslan tough lion
- Çetinel unyielding land
- Çetiner tough, unyielding man
- Çetinkaya hard rock, unyielding crag
- Çevik agile, nimble
- Çevikel nimble hand; agile
- Çığ avalanche
- Çınar plane tree
- Çıplak bare
- Çırak apprentice
- Çıray countenance, face
- Çıtak mountain woodcutter; rough
- Çıvgın young shoot, twig
- Çiçek flower
- Çiçekli flowery
- Çiçekoğlu son of Çiçek; flower
- Çiftçi farmer
- Çiftçioğlu son of the farmer
- Çiftpınar twin spring
- Çiğdem crocus
- Çilingir locksmith
- Çilingiroğlu son of the locksmith
- Çiller freckles
- Çilli freckled, speckled
- Çiloğlu son of the freckled one
- Çim grass, turf
- Çimen meadow grass
- Çirkin ugly; name against the evil eye
- Çoban shepherd
- Çobanlı of the shepherds; from Çobanlı
- Çobanoğlu son of the shepherd
- Çolak one-armed, maimed arm (byname)
- Çolakoğlu son of Çolak (nickname)
- Çolpan Venus, the Shepherd’s Star
- Çora hero of the Çora Batır epic
- Çorbacı soup maker; Janissary company commander
- Çorbacıoğlu son of the çorbacı
- Çorlu city in Tekirdağ
- Çorlulu from Çorlu
- Çoruh a river flowing into the Black Sea
- Çölgeçen one who crosses the desert
- Çömez pupil, apprentice
- Çörekçi bun maker or seller
- Çubuk twig, rod
- Çubukçu pipe-stem maker
- Çukurova plain in Adana (place name)
- Çulcu haircloth maker
- Çulha weaver
- Çulhaoğlu son of the weaver
The letter Ç in Turkish surnames
Ç is the sound [tʃ], as in English church. Unlike C, it begins many native words: çakır ‘grey-blue (of eyes)’, çağ ‘age, era’, çetin ‘hard, tough’, çiçek ‘flower’, çam ‘pine’. The surnames Çakır, Çetin and Çiçek come straight from them. Not every Ç-name is Turkic, though: çoban ‘shepherd’ and çınar ‘plane tree’ are Persian loans. In plain ASCII, as in web addresses, Ç is written c, which is why the address of this page ends in c-.
The surnames under this letter, in figures
The meanings are spread over 40 categories; the largest are “Surnames from nicknames” (12), “Appearance, body and strength” (10) and “Tools and objects” (9). Turkic roots dominate (105 surnames, 76.6%); the rest come from Persian (22), Mongolic (4), other languages (2), Greek (2), Kurdish (1), Arabic (1). On average they have 6.5 letters, close to the dictionary average of 6.3. The longest are Çalışkanoğlu and Çilingiroğlu (12 letters), the shortest Çam, Çay and Çığ and others (3). In vowel harmony, names with only back vowels lead (81) over front-vowel names (41); 19 mix the two, usually a sign of a compound or a loan.
By number of letters
Sources
- 1Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) · ADNKS, TÜİK Nüfus İsim Portalı: En çok kullanılan soyisimler (ADNKS)