Indian name

Indian namesare based on a variety of systems andnaming conventions,which vary from region to region. In Indian culture, names hold profound significance and play a crucial role in an individual's life. The importance of names is deeply rooted in the country's diverse and ancient cultural heritage. Names are also influenced by religion andcasteand may come fromepics.In Hindu culture, names are often chosen based on astrological and numerological principles. It is believed that a person's name can influence their destiny, and selecting the right name is essential for a prosperous and harmonious life. Astrologers may be consulted to ensure a name aligns with the individual's birth chart.India's population speaks awide varietyof languages and nearly every majorreligionin the world has a following in India. This variety makes for subtle, often confusing, differences in names and naming styles. Due tohistorical Indian cultural influences,several names acrossSouthandSoutheast Asiaare influenced by or adapted from Indian names or words.

In some cases, an Indianbirth nameis different from their official name; the birth name starts with a selected name from theperson's horoscope(based on thenakshatraor lunar mansion corresponding to the person's birth).

Many children are given three names, sometimes as a part of religious teaching.

Pronunciation

When written in Latin script, Indian names may use the vowel characters to denote sounds different from conventional American or British English. Although some languages, like Kannada or Tamil, may have different vowel sounds, the ones used in most major Indian languages are represented in this table along with typical English transcriptions.

IPA	ə/ɔ	aː	ɪ	iː	ʊ	uː	eː	ɛː/əɪ/ɔi	o	ɔː/əʊ/ou
English transcription	a	a	i	ee	u	oo	e	ai	o	au/ou

Furthermore, the letters used in English /t/ and /d/ that are used to represent the retroflex stops /ʈ/ and /ɖ/, are also used to represent dental stops /t̪/ and /d̪/ (as in Tenginkai or Rohit), especially when they occur in the onset of a word. As an example, the Indian name 'Dev' would not have its first consonant pronounced as in the American name 'Dave'. Similarly the name 'Tarun' would not have its first consonant sounded as in 'Tom'.

The letter 'h' is used to represent aspirated consonants. So, in the names 'Khare', 'Ghanshyam', 'Kaccha', 'Jhumki', 'Vitthal', 'Ranchodh', 'Uddhav', 'Phaneesh', and 'Bhanu,' the 'h' means the sound before it should be pronounced with a strong outward breath (seeAspirated consonantfor more on this). These names are more likely to be found in places that speak an Indo-Aryan language like Bhojpuri or Gujarati.

Names by culture

Assamese

Assamese names follow theFirst name–Middle name–SurnameorFirst name–Surnamepattern. ThePaik systemused by various Assamese kingdoms, most notably theAhom,granted men titles depending on the number of paiks they could command, and these titles are often still used as surnames today. Titles such asBora(20), Saika (100),Hazarika(1000) imply that their ancestors commanded 20, 100 or 1000 men. The topmost ranks were granted titles such asPhukan,Baruaand Rajkhowa. Some titles, such as Phukan, derive fromTai Ahomrather than Assamese. These surnames can be held by people from any community. For instance, inBinanda Chandra Barua,Binanda is the first name, Chandra the middle name and Barua the last name, indicating his ancestors were high in the Paik system.

There are some community-specific surnames such asGogoi(Ahom) andSarma(Brahmin) (ex:Himanta Biswa Sarma). Tribal communities such asBoro,DimasaandKarbifollow a similar naming scheme, although their surnames are generally clan names.

Bengali

Main article:Bengali name

Bengali names followFirst name–Middle name–Surnamepattern, as seen withSubhas Chandra Bose.

Bengali Brahminsurnames includeAcharya,Banerjee,Bagchi,Bhaduri,Bhattacharjee,Chakraborty,Chatterjee,Ganguly,Goswami,Ghoshal,Lahiri,Maitra,Mukherjee,Sanyal,etc. A Brahmin name is often the name of the clan or gotra, but can be an honorific, such asChakrabortyorBhattacharya.

CommonBaidyasurnames areSengupta,Dasgupta,Duttagupta,Gupta,Das-Sharma, and Sen-Sharma.

Bengali Kayasthasurnames includeBasu, Bose,Dutta,Ghosh,Choudhury,Guha,Mitra,Singh/Sinha,Pal,De/Dey/Deb/Dev,Palit, Chanda/Chandra,Das,Dam, Kar, Nandi, Nag, Som etc.

Odia

Odia names follow theFirst name–Middle name–SurnameorFirst name–Surnamepattern.

Odia surnames come from caste based on human occupation. For example, the common surnames Kar, Mohapatra, and Dash (as opposed to Das) are Brahmin surnames. Similarly, Misra/Mishra, Nanda, Rath, Shatapathi, Panda, Panigrahi, and Tripathi are all Brahmin surnames. Mohanty and Patnaik areKaran,others are Das, Samant Singh, Sundaraya, Jagdev, Baliarsingh, Harichandan, Manraj, Mardraj, Senapati, Srichandan, Pratihari, Paikray, Chhotray, Patasani, Parida, Samal, Sahu, Nayak, and Muduli.

Goan

Konkani peopleinhabiting Goa, and also Konkan regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra, useFirst name–Middle name–Village name/Surnamepattern. Generally, the first name is followed by the father's name, though this is now mostly observed by Hindus, who are traditionally patriarchal.

Village names were used only after the arrival of the Portuguese, when the people migrated from their ancestral villages. A suffixkarorhailing fromwas attached to the village name.

Many of the originally Hindu residents were converted to Catholicism by the Portuguese. Almost all of the Konkani Catholics have Portuguese surnames like Rodrigues, Fernandes, Pereira and D'Souza.Catholic families belonging to theRoman Catholic Brahmin(Bamonn) caste uselusophonisedversions of Hindu surnames like Prabhu, Bhat, etc.

Gujarati

Gujarati names follow a pattern ofGiven name,Father's given name,andSurname;for example,Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.After marriage, a woman takes her husband's patronymic as her new middle name. The surname is a family name, derived from place-names, trades or occupations, religious or caste names, or nicknames. Given names and their suffixes differ based on sex and religion.In many Gujarati households, a paternal aunt has the honour of naming her brother's child.

Traditionally names were often borrowed from religion, but in modern times names are borrowed from literature, film, and politicians. Sanskrittatsamanames are also increasing as a source for names to the detriment oftadbhavaand deshya names, especially amongst tribal groups. In modern times, there has also been the creating ofpleasant soundingbut meaningless names, as well as the borrowing of foreign names amongEnglisheducated metropolitans due toIndia's history with Britain.Mistry states these processes in name changes are due to social factors where members of the lower strata of Gujarati society adopt Sanskrit names in mimicry of higher strata, who must then create new names from native or foreign sources to maintain status. Another factor he states is the declining religiosity of modern generations.

Northern

This naming custom is prevalent throughout theHindi Belt,and is also followed also by groups in this region who may not speak a Hindi-related language variety as their first language such asGondsorSantals.Northern naming customs follow a standard pattern ofFirst name–Middle name–Surname.Many times the middle name will be appended onto the first name, or not exist at all. Sometimes middle name would even be father's first name. The surname is most commonly a caste-related name however, there are some caste-neutral surnames likeKumar.For example:Bhajan Lal Sharma(Bhajan is his first name, Lal is a middle name, andSharmais a caste surname). Many women, especially in rural areas, take on the surnameDevi(meaning Goddess) orKumari(princess) when they are married (ex.Phoolan Devi,known as Phoolan Mallah before marriage). Muslims in North India useIslamic naming conventions.

Kannada

Kannadanames vary by region as follows.

North Karnatakafollows theFirst name–Father's first name–Surnameorder. This system is also found in other parts of Karnataka.

Surnames are drawn from the names of places, food items, dresses, temples, type of people, platforms, cities, professions, and so on.Surnames are drawn from many other sources.

Kattias a suffix is used for soldiers whileKaradisis related to local folk art. Surnames according to trade or what they traditionally farm includeVastrad(piece of cloth),Kubasad(blouse),Menasinkai(chili),Ullagaddi(onion),Limbekai,Ballolli(garlic),Tenginkai(coconut),Byali(pulse), andAkki(rice). Surnames based on house includeDoddamani(big house),Hadimani(house next to the road),Kattimani(house with a platform in its front),Bevinmarad(person having a bigneemtree near his house), andHunasimarad(person having a bigtamarindtree near his house). A carpenter will haveBadigaras a surname, whileMirjankar,Belagavi,Hublikar,andJamkhandiare surnames drawn from places.Angadi(shop),Amavasya(new moon day),Kage(crow),Bandi(bullock cart),Kuri(sheep),Kudari(horse),Toppige(cap),Beegadkai(key),Pyati(market),Hanagi(comb), andRotti(bread) are some other surnames.

In coastal Karnataka, the surnames are different in different regions. Surnames like Hegde and Hebbar belong to the Brahmin community, while other titles likeBallal,Shetty,andRaiare mostly used by the landedBuntcommunity. Names in coastal Karnataka have both systemsVillage name–Father's name–Personal name–SurnameandPersonal name–Father's name–Surname.

Names inSouth KarnatakafollowVillage name–Father's name–Personal name–Surname.Examples:

• H[aradanahalli] D[evegowda] Kumaraswamy:Haradanahalliis his native village, Devegowda ishis father's name, and Kumaraswamy is his given name.
• T[umkur] M[ahesh] Pranav:Tumkuris his native town, Mahesh is his father's name, and Pranav is his given name.

For married women, it isHusband's name–First nameor the opposite (ex.Sumalatha Ambareesh,whereAmbareeshis her husband's name).

In South Karnataka, caste names are not common except among the higher castes.Kannada Brahminshave surnames likeRao,Murthy,Poojari,andBhat.The titleGowdawas a title given to any village headman, irrespective of caste, and was written as an appendage to the person's name. For exampleSiddaramaiah's father belonged to theKurubacommunity but was called Siddarame Gowda. Nowadays it is mostly used as aVokkaligasurname. Most people in South Karnataka, regardless of caste, do not use caste surnames.

Kashmiri

Kashmirinames often follow the naming conventionFirst name–Middle name(optional) –Family name.(For example:Jawahar Lal Nehru)

Nicknames often replace family names. Hence, some family names like Razdan and Nehru may very well be derived originally from the Kaul family tree.

Malayali

Malayali surname includes Nair, Menon, Pillai, Nambootri, Panikkar, and Kurup. SomeMalayalisfollow similar naming customs to Tamils and people in South Karnataka, usingVillage name–Father's name–Personal name.SomeMuslim Malayalisalso follow this system, though their first names follow the Islamic system.

Members of the Menon, Nair, and related communities often use their mother's house name or directly add their caste name.For example,Kannoth Karunakaran,Karunakaranis his given name andKannothis his mother's house name.P. K. Vasudevan Nair,Vasudevanis his given name andNairis his caste surname.Most of the Malayalis write name asGiven name–Father's name–Father's father's name/house name/village name–Surname/caste title.For instance, Shreelakshmi Dhanapalan Sadhu Kunjpilla; where Shreelakshmi is first name, Dhanapalan is middle name/father's name, Sadhu is grandfather's name, and Kujnpilla is surname/caste title. It might also be written as Shreelakshmi Dhanapalan S K.

Earlier times (until the 20th century) Malayali Christians (Nasranis) were bound by only Christian names and usually used theFamily/house name – Father's name – Baptismal namenaming convention. Nowadays, however, Christians have various naming conventions such asName – Surname – Father's NameorName – Father's nameorName – SurnameorName – Father's Name – Grandfather's Name.It can be concluded that Syrian Christian names arePatryonmic.E.g.:Arackaparambil Kurien Antony,better known as A. K. Antony, here the policitcan's name is Antony while his father's name is Kurien, while his family name is Arackaparambil. During the 20th century some names were created by joining two or more syllables. For example, Abey (AB), Aji (AG), Bibi (BB), Biji (BG), Siby (CB) and so on. Today, several Syrian Christians name their children with popular Indian names likeDeepak,Rahul, Neethu,Ashaetc. But by the 21st century more biblical names began to reappear. Thus names like,Isaac,Joshua,David,Saul,Ezekiel,Timothy,appeared on the scene.

Marathi

Marathipeople of Hindu religion follow a partiallypatronymicnaming system. For example, it is customary to associate the father's name with the given name. In the case of married women, the husband's name is associated with the given name. Therefore, the constituents of a Marathi name as given name/first name, father/husband name, family name/surname. For example:

• Mahadev Govind Ranade:Here Mahadev is the given name, Govind is his father's given name and Ranade is the surname.
• Hridayan Chetan Thakur: "Hridayan" is a Sanskrit word that means "of the heart" or "pertaining to the heart." It is derived from the word "hridaya," which literally translates to "heart" or "center." In various contexts, "hridayan" can signify emotions, feelings, or the essence of something. The heart holds significant symbolism in many cultures, representing love, compassion, courage, and the core of one's being.
• Sunil Madhav Jadhav: Here Sunil is the given name, Madhav is his father's name and Jadhav is the surname.
• Jyotsna Mukund Khandekar: Here Jyotsna is the given name, Mukund is the husband's given name, and Khandekar is the surname of the husband

Personal names

Marathi Hindus choose given names for their children from a variety of sources. They could be characters fromHindu mythologicalepics such as theRamayanaorMahabharat,names of holy rivers such asYamunaandGodavari,Hindu historical characters from Maratha or Indian history such asShivajiandAshoka,Marathi varkari saints such asTukaram,Dnyaneshwar,Janabai,popular characters from modern Marathi literature, names of fragrant flowers for girls (e.g.Bakul,Kamal/Kamla forlotus), senses such asMadhurafor sweetness, precious metals such female nameSuwarnafor gold, heavenly bodies such as the Sun and the Moon,VasantandSharadfor spring and autumn respectively, names of film stars (e.g. Amit afterAmitabh Bachchan) or sportsmen, and after virtues (e.g.,Vinayfor modesty). Nicknames such as Dada, Bandu, Balu, Sonya and Pillu for males and Chhabu and Bebi for girls have been popular too.

Surnames

A large number of Maharashtrian surnames are derived by adding the suffixkarto the village from which the family originally hailed.For example, Junnarkar came from town ofJunnar,Waghulkar comes from the town of Waghul. Names likeKumbhar,Sutar,Kulkarni,Deshpande,Deshmukh,Patil,Pawar,Desai,andJoshidenote the family's ancestral trade or professions.

Families of the historical Maratha chiefs use their clan name as their surname. Some of these areJadhav,Bhosale,Chavan,Shinde,Shirke,More,Nimbalkar,Pawar,and Ghatge.Members of the numerically largestMaratha-Kunbicultivator class among Marathi people have also adopted some of the Maratha clan names, whether to indicate allegiance to the Maratha chief they served, or as an attempt at upward mobility.

Punjabi

Punjabi Hindus generally follow North Indian naming conventions and Muslims generally follow Islamic naming conventions.

Sikh

Main articles:Sikh namesandSikh titles

Sikhnames often have the following format:First name–Religious name–Family name.The religious name is alwaysSinghfor males andKaurfor females. Upon marriage, a Sikh woman will take the family name of the husband. The family name is sometimes used, but sometimes not. For instanceRanjit Singh,where Ranjit was his first name and Singh his last name, was from theSandhawaliaJat clan, but did not use it as a surname. However many do use caste/clan names, such asBhagwant Singh Mann,where Bhagwant is the first name, Singh the religious name andMannthe Jat clan to which he belongs.

Many Sikhs append the name of their sub-caste (known as agotin Punjabi andgotrain Hindi) as their surname.Agotis an exogamous grouping within a particular caste (known as azatin Punjabi andjatiin Hindi).Azatis an endogamous caste grouping, which containsgotsunder it.Some Sikhs are against the usage ofgotnames as surnames because they think it promotes thecaste systemand the discrimination that comes from it, which is against Sikh doctrines.Sikhs tend to marry someone belonging to a differentgotas themself whilst belonging to the samezat.

Sardarfor males andSardarnifor females are sometimes prefixed as titles. A lot of Sikh first names can be used by both sexes.

Tamil

See also:Personal name § Tamil names

Tamilnames usually follow this pattern:Initial(Village name) –Initial(Father's name) –First name–Surname(Example:M.G. Ramachandran,where the M stands forMarudhur,and G stands for Gopalan, the father's name. Another example is R. Karthik, where R stands for Ravichandran, the father's name). There is a widespread usage of apatronym(use of the father's given name as the last name). This means that the first name of one generation becomes the last name of the next. In many cases, the father's given name appears as an initial and when written in full (for example, on a passport),the initial is expanded as last name. For example, a name like "R. Kumaresh" will be written in full as "or" Kumaresh Ramaiah ", and refers to" Kumaresh son of Ramaiah ". If Kumaresh then has a son named Vijay, then his name would be" K. Vijay "or" Vijay Kumaresh "as it would be in the West. There is also a general custom for Tamil women, after marriage to adopt their husband's first name as their new initial or new last name instead of their father's. A woman named K. Anitha / Anitha Kumaresh (Anitha daughter of Kumaresh) might change her name after marriage to S. Anitha / Anitha Saravanan (Anitha wife of Saravanan). However, these customs vary from family to family and are normally never carried on over successive generations.

Tamil Nadu, boasting numerous temples and a robust religious legacy, serves as a wellspring of inspiration for many Tamil names. These names often draw from the rich tapestry of Hindu deities, scriptures, and sacred texts. A prime example of this influence can be observed in names like "Arjun" and "Karthik," which resonate with the narratives and virtuous attributes associated with these divine beings.

Due to the influence of theDravidian movement,from the 1930s, most Tamils abandoned their surnames, both in India and nations like Singapore, due to the arising consciousness that these surnames were synonymous with theircasteidentity, leading to social stigma.

More common among women, making the patronym or husband name the last name is a custom adopted by people migrating to the West, who want to be called by their first names without having to explain Indian naming conventions. However, women frequently adopt their father's or husband's name, and take it for successive generations.

The various Tamil caste names includeParaiyar,Vishwakarma,Aachari,Konar,Idaiyar,Reddiar,Udayar,Yadhavar,Iyengar,Iyer,Pillai,Mudaliar,Thevar,Nadar,Chettiar,Gounder,Naicker,Vanniyaretc. The naming is therefore done in the fashion: Sunitha Ram Kumar Iyer. And hence they are known to only use initials besides their name except for when caste names are given more preference by certain families rather than the family name itself.

Telugu

See also:Telugu names

Telugu peoplehave a different naming style from the rest of India. Thefamily nameis agenitive case,hence stands first, which is followed bypersonal name.This practice of placing family name first is also seen inChinese,JapaneseandHungarians.

Thus "Family name(surname),Given name"format is contrasted from North India where family name typically appears last or other parts ofSouth Indiawhere family names are little used. This might cause confusion to varying degree within India and rest of the world.

Occasionally,castename is also suffixed at the end. For example, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, where Neelam is the family name, Sanjiva is the given name, and Reddy is the caste name.

Occasionally, some Telugu names may follow a slightly different convention where two personal names are given along with a family name. In the name, Aakula Anjaneya Prasad, Aakula is the family name and Anjaneya Prasad are the given names.

Muslims however have family names expressed at the end of their names.

Personal names

Telugu people are often named after Hindu gods or goddesses.

Family names

Nearly all Telugus possess family names called "Inti peru"(lit. 'House name'), which are the most unique of all the linguistic groups in India.

Telugu family names are often named after a place. For example,Pasupaletiafter Pasupaleru,KondaveetiafterKondaveedu,KandukuriafterKandukur,etc. Unlike western names in which the family name is more well known than the personal name, among the Telugu given names are how people are most widely known.

Telugu family names are often abbreviated and written,e.g., P. V. Narasimha Rao, D. Ramanaidu, etc., unlike western names where given name is abbreviated.

Inde xing

According toThe Chicago Manual of Style,Indian names are usuallyindexedby the family name, with the family name separated from the other names by a comma, but inde xing may differ according to the local usage and the preferences of the individual.

Global Indian influence in names

SeeIndosphere,Sanskritisation,Indianization of Southeast Asiaas well asInfluence of Indian honorifics in Southeast Asia,influenced theMalay/Indonesian,Thai,andFilipinohonorifics.

See also

• Indian honorifics
• Place names in India
• Surnames by country

References

Works cited

• Chopra, Pran Nath (1982).Religions and communities of India.Vision Books.ISBN978-0-85692-081-3.
• Maffei, Angelus Francis Xavier (1882).A Konkani grammar.Mangalore: Basel Mission & Tract Depository.
• Pinto, Pius(1999).History of Christians in coastal Karnataka, 1500-1763 A.D.Mangalore: Samanvaya Prakashan.

Further reading

• Kaushik, Devendra Kumar (2000)Cataloguing of Indic Names in AACR-2Archived15 March 2011 at theWayback Machine.Delhi: Originals.ISBN81-7536-187-5
• "How well do you know about the origins of some Indian Occupational Surnames?".TheBizdom. 22 February 2020.Retrieved23 February2022.