Banerjee or Bandyopadhyay is a surname of

Brahmins Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

originating from the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

region of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

and from

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

Lineage and ancestry

Banerjees are from the ancient Shandilya

Gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra ...

, which means all Banerjees are descended from

Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...

from the ancient sage Shandilya as per the Puranas. Together with Mukherjees,

Chatterjee Chatterjee or Chattopadhyay (চট্টোপাধ্যায়) is a Bengali Hindu family name, used primarily by the Kulin group of Pancha-Gauda Brahmins in India, and associated with the Bengali Brahmin caste. ''Chatterjee'' is an Angliciz ...

Bhattacharjee Bhattacharya, Bhattacharyya, and Bhattacharjee are three common spellings of a Bengali Brahmin and surname. In Bengal, Bhattacharjees, together with Banerjees, Chatterjees, Gangulys and Mukherjees, form the Kulin Brahmins. Notable persons with ...

s and Gangulys, Banerjees form the

Kulin Brahmins Kulin Brahmins are the Bengali Brahmins belonging to Hindu religion. They trace their ancestry to five families of Kannauj who migrated to Bengal. History In the 11th century AD, after the decline of the Pala dynasty, a Hindu king, Adi Sura broug ...

History

Notable people

Notable people with the surname Banerjee, Bandopadhyay, or variations, include: *

Alapan Bandyopadhyay Alapan Bandyopadhyay (born 17 May 1961) is an ex-Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and former Chief Secretary of State for the Government of West Bengal. He is Chief Advisor for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee since 1 June 2021. He too ...

, IAS Officer * Anjan Bandyopadhyay, journalist *

Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee (; born 21 February 1961) is an Indian-American economist who is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Banerjee shared the 2019 Nobel Memorial Priz ...

, Nobel laureate economist * Albion Rajkumar Banerjee * Ambica Banerjee * Audrish Banerjee *

Bhanu Banerjee Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, also known as Bhanu Banerjee (born as Samyamoy Bandyopadhyay; 26 August 1920 – 4 March 1983), was an Indian actor, known for his work in Bengali cinema. He acted in over 300 movies, in numerous plays and performed freque ...

, actor and freedom activist * Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay *

Bidisha Bandyopadhyay Bidisha Mamata is a British broadcaster and journalist specialising in international affairs, social justice issues, arts and culture. Bidisha began writing professionally for style magazines such as ''i-D'', '' Dazed and Confused'', and the '' ...

, writer, broadcaster *

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (born Chitralekha Banerjee, 1956) is an Indian-born American author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Her short story collection, ''Arrang ...

Dibakar Banerjee Dibakar Banerjee (born 21 June 1969) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and advertisement-filmmaker known for his work in Hindi films. Banerjee started his career in advertising, being a feature filmmaker, he still continues t ...

, film director * Dola Banerjee * Gooroodas Banerjee, High Court judge * Gurudas Bandyopadhyay, Actor * Gopeshwar Banerjee *

Haradhan Bandopadhyay Haradhan Bandopadhyay (6 November 1926 – 5 January 2013) was a Bengali Indian male actor of television and films. He made his debut in the 1948 Bengali film ''Devdut'', directed by Atanu Bandopadhyay. He worked with some of the most prominent ...

, actor * Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay * Jenni Banerjee, actress * Kali Banerjee, actor *

Kali Charan Banerjee Kali Charan Banerjee (1847–1907), spelt also as Kalicharan Banerji or K.C. Banerjea or K.C. Banurji, was a Bengali convert to Christianity through the Free Church of Scotland, the founder of ''Calcutta Christo Samaj'', a Calcutta lawyer, an ...

* Kalyan Banerjee *

Kanika Bandyopadhyay Kanika Banerjee (12 October 1924 – 5 April 2000) was an Bengali Rabindra Sangeet singer. Biography Early life Born on 12 October 1924 at Sonamukhi in Bankura district, Kanika joined Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan in West Bengal, ...

(1924–2000), singer * Kanu Banerjee (1905–1985), actor (Pather Panchali) * Karuna Banerjee (1919–2001), actress (Pather Panchali) * Krishna Mohan Banerjee * Kaushik Banerjee, actor *

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal since 20 May 2011, the first woman to hold the office. Having served many times as a ...

Manik Bandopadhyay Manik Bandyopadhyay lias Banerjee(; 19 May 1908 – 3 December 1956) is an Indian Litterateur regarded as one of the major figures of 20th century Bengali literature. During a lifespan of 48 years and 28 years of literary career, battling with ...

, writer, novelist *

Nikhil Banerjee Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. H ...

, composer, musician *

Nyra Banerjee Madhuurima Banerjee (born 14 May 1987), also known by her stage name Nyra Banerjee, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Following appearances in various television serials, she ...

, Indian television actress and assistant director. * Pradip Kumar Banerjee *

Prith Banerjee Prithviraj "Prith" Banerjee (born 1960) is an Indian American academic and computer scientist and is currently the Chief Technology Officer at ANSYS and board member at Cray and CUBIC. Previously, he was a Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry w ...

* Pooja Banerjee, television actress * Puja Banerjee, film and television actress *

Rachana Banerjee Rachna Banerjee (born Jhumjhum Rakesh Banerjee; 2 October 1974) also known as Rachana, is an Indian actress, entrepreneur and television presenter. She is known for her works in Bengali and Odia film industries and has also appeared in several ...

, actor * Raghab Bandyopadhyay, prose writer * Rahul Banerjee, archer * R D Banerji, The discoverer of Mohenjo-daro, the principal site of the Indus Valley Civilisation * Rina Banerjee *

Ruprekha Banerjee Ruprekha Banerjee ( bn, রূপরেখা ব্যানার্জী) (born 1984 in Kolkata) is a musician. She was one of the three finalists of ''Fame Gurukul'', one of the most watched television shows in India, along with Rex D'Sou ...

San Banarje San Banarje is an American filmmaker, entrepreneur, producer, screenwriter, editor, photographer, actor and an options trader.He was born in Kolkata, India to an orthodox Hindu Brahmin family but never practiced any religion. A resident of Hous ...

, film director, producer, photographer *

Sanjay Banerjee Sanjay Banerjee is an American engineer at the University of Texas at Austin, director of Microelectronics Research Center, and director of the Southwest Academy of Nanoelectronics (SWAN) — one of three such centers in the United States funded ...

, Indian engineer * Shakuntala Banerjee (born 1973), German journalist * Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay *

Sarnath Banerjee Sarnath Banerjee (born 1972) is an Indian graphic novelist, artist, filmmaker and co-founder of the comics publishing house, Phantomville. Biography Banerjee was born in Calcutta and lives and works in Delhi, India. He studied image and comm ...

Somen Banerjee Somen "Steve" Banerjee ( bn, সোমেন বন্দোপাধ্যায়; October 8, 1946 – October 23, 1994) was an Indian entrepreneur, and the founder of Chippendales. Biography Somen Banerjee was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), I ...

* Surendranath Banerjee, first Indian to qualify Indian Civil Service Examination *

Sushmita Banerjee Sushmita Banerjee, also known as Sushmita Bandhopadhyay and Sayeda Kamala (1963/1964 – 4/5 September 2013), was a writer and activist from India. Her works include the memoir ''Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou'' (''A Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife''; 1997 ...

, writer * Victor Banerjee, actor both in Tollywood, Bollywood and Hollywood *

Vikram Banerjee Vikram Banerjee (born 20 March 1984 in Bradford, Yorkshire) is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm slow bowler. Background Banerjee studied at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Downing College, Cambridge. Profe ...

* Gargi Banerji, cricketer *

Sara Banerji Sara Banerji (née Mostyn) (born 6 June 1932) is a British author, artist and sculptor. She was born in England, but lived in Southern Rhodesia and then in India for many years. She now lives in Oxford with her family. Biography Banerji was ...

, writer *

Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee Womesh Chandra Bannerjee (or Umesh Chandra Banerjee by current English orthography of Bengali names; 29 December 1844 – 21 July 1906) was an Indian barrister. He was a co-founder and the first president of Indian National Congress. Born on 1 ...

, first president of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

References

{{surname Brahmin communities Social groups of West Bengal Indian surnames Hindu surnames Bengali Hindu surnames Kulin Brahmin surnames