Toponymy of Antalya Aksu

Throughout history, naming has never been an accidental task; on the contrary, it has been done for certain purposes and according to certain rules and methods. Toponym science, is a study conducted to determine these purposes, rules and methods. With toponymy studies, elements and phenomena affecting societies during naming activities can be identified. At the same time, certain ideas can be obtained about the history, geographical characteristics, language and culture of the inhabitants of the region. For this purpose, in order to contribute to toponymy studies, the place names of Aksu district of Antalya province were identified and analyzed in terms of origin. The reason for determining this district as the subject of the study, is the rapid urbanization of Aksu, one of the central districts, is rapidly urbanizing and place names, which are indicators of our culture, are forgotten, changed for various reasons or the meaning of the words that make up the place names, the first state becomes unclear. In order to prevent the disappearance of these names all geographical elements such as neighborhoods, localities, mountains, hills, streams, etc. in the district were determined and examined through the maps obtained from the Aksu District Municipality. The culture of the population, the physical geography of the region and historical event are effective in the activities of place naming. These factors were also effective in the place names of Aksu district. The Turkization process, which started with the migration of the Oghuzs to Anatolia, shows itself intensely in place names. The physical geography of the region, along with the influence of those who settled in the region where the district is located, also affected the naming activities. The study consists of two main parts and the first part includes the historical analysis of place names in terms of origin and structure. The first part, the divided into five parts as the place names of Aksu, the neighborhoods, old neighborhoods, other place names, landforms and water forms. In the second part, the classification of Aksu place names has been done. This section is divided into three and the place names are classified in terms of origin, grammar and meaning. In the introduction part of the study, information about linguistics, onomastics, toponym science and Aksu district is given.