Indian names: Encyclopedia II - Indian names - Last names

Indian names - Last names

Many Indians do not have family names. Faced with the modern necessity of a last name, Indians have resorted to various means to get last names. Some of these are so common that most people do not even realize that they have had to, in effect, discover their last names. Most of the Indian family names are derived from several sources.

The caste or subcaste name is often used as a family name. These are analogous to western family names like Smith and Barber to the extent that they represent occupation. For example: Reddy (Hindu Telugu Landowner caste). However, Indians usually marry within the caste, and often within the subcaste. Modern legal requirements have caused many peoples to use the caste names as the equivalent of the second names. Examples of second names of this kind from southern India include 'Iyer', 'Iyengar', 'Nair', 'Naidu', 'Reddy', 'Gowda'.

Caste names do not necessarily indicate occupation, like Western last names of Carpenter and Smith: Mohandas Gandhi belonged to the caste of Gandhis ("grocers"). He was a lawyer before he became a political leader. However, most Indians tend to marry within their caste. Gandhi's wife's maiden name, mother's maiden name and grandmother's maiden name were all Gandhi even if they came from unrelated families. Caste names are not really family names. Patel, Iyer, Mudaliar are all caste names.

There are a few exogamous division within caste. These are usually on the basis of deity worshipped by the family. For example, Tamma (within Reddy caste). This is widely followed by the Telugu people. Balgangadhar Tilak another Independence-era leader's last name belongs to this category. This is more common among castes, like the Brahmins, that are spread throughout the country. People of different subcastes may intermarry; hence, these are even more like Western last names. Kamath and Shenoy are both Konkani Brahmin last names. Clan names are used only in small communities scattered around the country. The Chota Nagpur tribals have animal deities with whom they claim kinship that are used as clan names. The Coorgis or Kodavas of South India also have clan names.

A person's religious affiliations also affects his last name. Sikhs as a community have adopted Singh (meaning Lion) as a suffix to their names and that is often used just as any other last name would be. Many Sikh women use Kaur(meaning Princess) as their last names. The name "Singh" predates the Sikh faith and is still a common one for upper caste Kshatriyas; both as "Singh" or the suffix "-sinh" as part of their given or family names. "Singh" is related to the name of the country of Singapore. Zail Singh , one of India's ex-presidents was a Sikh scholar. Sikhs, followers of a faith founded during the Mughal rule in India, often have the middle name Singh and a last name that belongs to their clan, since Sikhs don't have castes, or town, like the cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu. But some Sikhs may drop the clan name and Singh then becomes the last name. Singh, on the other hand, is the preferred surname of several North Indian Hindus and is not exclusively used by Sikhs.

Jains, followers of Mahavira, a contemporary of the Buddha, often use the last name Jain. Like "Singh", this is also a surname used by other Hindus especially upper caste Thakurs (Kshatriyas) or Rajputs. Typically a Hindu name will have a "given" first name, a middle name (which can be the father's name in some regions like Maharashtra), and a last name or family name. A southern Indian on the other hand will use only the first name along with his caste/village prefixed. Christian names in India have over the past two centuries evolved into an unique amalgamation of Indian and Western patterns. For example consider X. Antony Alex Miranda - Here, X represents Xavier, his father, Miranda, the surname or family name, Alex and Antory are the first and second names. The pattern of Muslim names is similar to Muslim names elsewhere.

In Maharashtra many family names are derived by attaching a "kar" to their place of origin. e.g. people whose last name is Gavaskar trace back their origin to the town of Gavas, The Tendulkars trace their origins to Tendol, Pawaskar to Pawas, and so on. Some Hindu families have names that reflect the academic achievements of their forefathers. e.g., Sastri - one who has studied the Sastras, Dwivedi - one who has studied two vedas, Trivedi - three vedas, Chaturvedi - four vedas. Others include Pathak, Acharya, Upadhyaya, Pandit, etc.

Some families in India tend to rename themselves on the basis of their profession. This is common among the Parsis, who have surnames ending with "wala" meaning someone who engages in a particular activity. Names like "Screwala" when the person might have sold screws or "cyclewala" (cycle seller) are quite common. In fact, "wala" is quite a common term that it is often used for any type of merchant. Many social ranks were also hereditary. Names such as 'Talukdar', 'Tehsildar', 'Tarafdar', 'Pillai' are based on social rank.

Jawaharlal Nehru , India's first Prime Minister had an invented family name. Nehru was a family name adopted by his father when they arrived in Allahabad from Kashmir. Thus, his wife's maiden name was not Nehru. This is obviously an exception to the statement that Indians do not have last names. Another example is the name of Rajesh Pilot, Indian ex-minister, who attached his surname after a stint in the Indian Air Force.

Sometimes a family name is added on to the end of the name as an initial, eg. Noushad S. U. (or S. U. Noushad) the shortened form of Noushad Shafi Ulooji, which is interpreted as Noushad, son of Shafi of the Ulooji family.

It is also common for people to name their children after international personalities. Most of the times the surname of the aformentioned is used as a first name, like Einstein, Churchill, Kennedy, Beethoven, Shakespere etc. and tend to denote the parents' political affiliations. Like in Western societies, parents are beginning to experiment with uncommon names, or using words that aren't usually considered names, like Proton Padmanabhan, Alpha Jyothis and Omega Jyothis.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Last names", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki