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 (gur ...

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, India ...

and from

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

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 cla ...

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

Mukherjee Mukherjee, Mukerjee, Mookerjee, Mukerji, Mukherji, Mukhujje or Mookherjee is a Kulin Brahmin surname of the Hindu Religion, common among residents of the Indian state of West Bengal. The traditional Bengali version is ''Mukhopaddhae'', which is ...

s, Chatterjees, Bhattacharjees and Gangulys, Banerjees form the Kulin Brahmins.

History

Notable people

Notable people with the surname Banerjee, Bandopadhyay, or variations, include: * Alapan Bandyopadhyay, 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 Prize ...

, Nobel laureate economist *

Albion Rajkumar Banerjee Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerjee (10 October 1871 – 25 February 1950) was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Diwan of Cochin from 1907 to 1914, 21st Diwan of Mysore from 1922 to 1926, and as Prime Minister of Kashmir fr ...

Ambica Banerjee Ambica Banerjee (28 August 1928 – 25 April 2013) was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha. He was elected as a Trinamool Congress candidate from Howrah (Lok Sabha constituency). Banerjee was born in 1928 to Shri Anilmohon Banerjee and Shyama Devi i ...

* Audrish Banerjee * Bhanu Banerjee, actor and freedom activist *

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeate ...

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 *

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 Dola Banerjee ( bn, দোলা ব্যানার্জি; born 2 June 1980) is an Indian sportswoman who competes in archery. Early life Dola Banerjee is daughter of Ashok Banerjee and Kalpana Banerjee. She was born in Baranagar near K ...

* Gooroodas Banerjee, High Court judge *

Gurudas Bandyopadhyay Sir Gooroodas Banerjee (also Gurudas or Gurudas Bandyopadhyay, bn, স্যার গুরুদাস ব্যানার্জী; 26 January 1844 – 2 December 1918) was a Bengali Indian judge of the Calcutta High Court. In 1890, he al ...

, Actor *

Gopeshwar Banerjee Gopeshwar Banerjee or Gopeshwar Bandopadhyay (1880–1963) was an Indian classical singer and musicologist, belonging to Bishnupur gharana of Hindustani music, which originated in Bishnupur in West Bengal. He was known for his khyal and dhrupad ...

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 Jenni Pauliina Banerjee (born 17 January 1981 in Ylöjärvi, Finland) is a Finnish actress with Indian ancestry. She has appeared in movies such as '' Pahat pojat'' (2003), ''Joensuun Elli'' (2004) and '' Lieksa!'' (2007). Her maternal grandfath ...

, actress *

Kali Banerjee Kali Banerjee (20 November 1920 – 5 July 1993) was an Indian actor, who worked in the 1950s–1970s in Bengali cinema. He is best known for his work with film directors like Satyajit Ray in '' Parash Pathar'' (1958) and Ritwik Ghatak in ''N ...

, 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, and ...

* Kalyan Banerjee * Kanika Bandyopadhyay (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 Un ...

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, 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 Pradip Kumar Banerjee (23 June 1936 – 20 March 2020) was an Indian professional footballer who played as a striker for the India national football team. He also captained the national team and later on became the coach of the national t ...

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 ...

Pooja Banerjee Pooja Banerjee (born 8 November 1991) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi television. She began her television career as a contestant in ''MTV Roadies'' and subsequently starred as Tejal Majumdar in her first lead show, '' Ek Doosre Se K ...

, 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 severa ...

, 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 *

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 H ...

, film director, producer, photographer * Sanjay Banerjee, Indian engineer * Shakuntala Banerjee (born 1973), German journalist *

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was an Indian Bengali-language writer. He was actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. The creator of the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Sharadindu compos ...

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 com ...

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), ...

Surendranath Banerjee Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian N ...

, first Indian to qualify Indian Civil Service Examination * Sushmita Banerjee, writer *

Victor Banerjee Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked for directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shy ...

, actor both in Tollywood, Bollywood and Hollywood * Vikram Banerjee *

Gargi Banerji Gargi Banerjee (born 20 July 1961 in Calcutta, India) is a former Test and One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team ...

, cricketer * Sara Banerji, writer * Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, 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 ...

References

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