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Indian names are based on a variety of systems and
naming conventions A naming convention is a convention (norm), convention (generally agreed scheme) for naming things. Conventions differ in their intents, which may include to: * Allow useful information to be deduced from the names based on regularities. For ins ...
, 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 and
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
and may come from
epics Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
. 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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
's population speaks a wide variety of languages and nearly every major
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
in the world has a following in India. This variety makes for subtle, often confusing, differences in names and naming styles. Due to historical Indian cultural influences, several names across
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
are influenced by or adapted from Indian names or words. In some cases, an Indian
birth name The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
is different from their official name; the birth name starts with a selected name from the person's horoscope (based on the ''
nakshatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...
'' or lunar mansion corresponding to the person's birth). Many children are given three names, sometimes as a part of a religious teaching. Research suggests that many Indians have officially adopted caste-neutral last names to mitigate historical inequalities. Some of India’s most famous celebrities have changed their names. For example,
Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...
was originally named Inquilab Srivastava, Akshay Kumar was named Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, and
Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...
was originally named Muhammad Yusuf Khan. In many parts of India, the practice of name “doubling” is now wide-spread, i.e. a citizen adopts a “caste-neutral” last name for school, work and official settings, but retains a traditional name for personal interaction or to access certain state schemes.


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. 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', 'Siddharth', 'Phaneesh', and 'Bhanu,' the 'h' means the sound before it should be pronounced with a strong outward breath (see
Aspirated consonant In phonetics, aspiration is a strong burst of breath that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. In English, aspirated consonants are allophones in complementary distribution with t ...
for more on this). These names are more likely to be found in places that speak an Indo-Aryan language like Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, or Bundeli.


Names by culture


Assamese

Assamese names follow the First name – Middle name – Surname or First name – Surname pattern. The Paik system used by various Assamese kingdoms, most notably the Ahom, granted men titles depending on the number of paiks they could command, and these titles are often still used as surnames today. Titles such as Bora (20), Saika (100),
Hazarika Hazarika was a Paik officer under the administration of the Ahom kingdom and Koch kingdom. The commander over 1,000 (''Hazar'') ''paiks'' was known as a ''Hazarika''. As it was a purely administrative position, the title holder could belong t ...
(1000) imply that their ancestors commanded 20, 100 or 1000 men. The topmost ranks were granted titles such as Phukan, Barua and Rajkhowa. Some titles, such as Phukan, derive from Tai Ahom rather than Assamese. These surnames can be held by people from any community. For instance, in Binanda 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 as Gogoi ( Ahom) and Sarma (
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
) (ex:
Himanta Biswa Sarma Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1 February 1969) is an Indian politician and lawyer serving as the 15th and current Chief Minister of Assam since 2021. A former member of the Indian National Congress, Sarma joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 Au ...
). Tribal communities such as
Boro BORO (Business Objects Reference Ontology) is an approach to developing ontological or semantic models for large complex operational applications that consists of a top ontology as well as a process for constructing the ontology. It was originally ...
, Dimasa and Karbi follow a similar naming scheme, although their surnames are generally clan names.


Bengali

Bengali names follow First name – Middle name – Surname pattern, as seen with
Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...
. Bengali Brahmin surnames include Acharjee, Banerjee, Bagchi, Bhaduri, Bhattacharjee, Chakraborty, Chatterjee, Ganguly,
Goswami Goswami is an Indian surname and honorific title used by Brahmins and Hindu Asceticism, ascetics. It is also pronounced as, Gosains, Gosine, Gossain, Gosain, Gossai, and Gosavi. Notables Notable people with the surname or title Goswami include: ...
, Ghoshal, Lahiri, Maitra, Mukherjee, Sanyal, Kanjilal, Bhattashali, Putatundu etc. A Brahmin name is often the name of the clan or gotra, but can be an honorific, such as '' Chakraborty'' or '' Bhattacharya''. Common Baidya surnames are Sengupta, Dasgupta, Duttagupta, Debgupta, Sen, Gupta, Das Sharma, and Sen Sharma.
Bengali Kayastha Bengali Kayastha is a Bengali Hindu caste that originated from the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent, and is one of the main subgroups of the Kayastha community. The historical caste occupation of Kayasthas throughout India has been that of ...
surnames include Basu, Bose, Dutta, Ghosh, Choudhury, Roy Chowdhury, Ray, Guha,
Mitra ''Mitra'' (Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Indo-Iranian: wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mitrás, ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranians#Religion, Indo-Iranian divinity that predates the Rigveda, Rigvedic Mitra (Hindu god), Mitrá ...
, Sinha/Singha,
Pal Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
, De/Dey/Deb/Dev, Palit, Chanda/Chandra, Das, Rakshit, Sen, Dam,
Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...
, Mallik, Kar, Nandi, Nag, Som, etc.


Odia

Odia names follow the First name – Middle name – Surname or First name – Surname pattern. 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, Mishra, Nanda, Rath, Satpathy, Panda, Panigrahi, and Tripathy are all
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
surnames. Mohanty, Das, Choudhury, Ray, Kanungo, Mangaraj, Bohidar, Bakshi, Patnaik, Samantaray, Routray, Mahasenapati, Srikarana, Chhotray and Das Mohapatra are Karan surnames. Others are Samant, Singhar, Sundaraya, Jagdev, Baliarsingh, Harichandan, Mardraj, Srichandan, Pratihari, Paikray, Patasani, Parida, Samal, Sahu, Nayak, and Muduli.


Goan

Konkani people The Konkani people are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Konkan region of the Indian subcontinent. They speak various dialects of the Konkani language. Following the Konkani language agitation, Konkani becam ...
inhabiting Goa, and also Konkan regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra, use First name – Middle name – Village name/Surname pattern. 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 suffix ''kar'' or ''hailing from'' was 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 the Roman Catholic Brahmin (Bamonn) caste use lusophonised versions of Hindu surnames like Prabhu, Bhat, etc.


Gujarati

Gujarati names follow a pattern of First name – Father's first name – Surname. In many Gujarati households, a paternal aunt has the honour of naming her brother's child. Traditionally, the suffix -bhai or -ben is added to the end of a given name to show respect for men and women respectively, but this practice is uncommon in contemporary times, and many are choosing to remove it. After marriage, a woman can take her husband's patronymic or his given name as her new middle name. The surname or 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. Examples: *
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...
: Mohandas is his given name, Karamchand is his father's name, and
Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...
is his surname. * Jashodaben Narendrabhai Modi: Jashoda is her given name, -ben is the suffix, Narendrabhai is her husband's name, and Modi is her surname. Traditionally, names were often borrowed from religion, but in modern times, names are borrowed from literature, film, and politicians. Sanskrit
tatsama Tatsama ( , lit. 'same as that') are Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indo-Aryan languages like Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Hindi, Gujarati, and Sinhala and in Dravidian languages like Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. They generally ...
names are also increasing as a source for names to the detriment of
tadbhava (Sanskrit: तद्भव, , lit. "arising from that") is the Sanskrit word for one of three etymological classes defined by native grammarians of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, alongside tatsama and deśi words. at pp. 67-69. A "tadbhava" is ...
and deshya names, especially amongst tribal groups. In modern times, there has also been the creation of pleasant-sounding but meaningless names, as well as the borrowing of foreign names among English-educated metropolitans due to India'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 the
Hindi Belt The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland or the Hindi speaking states, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India where various Northern, Central, Eastern and Western Indo-Arya ...
, and is also followed also by groups in this region who may not speak a Hindi-related language variety as their first language such as Gonds or
Santals The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic-speaking Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar, Assam ...
. Northern naming customs follow a standard pattern of First 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 like Kumar. For example:
Bhajan Lal Sharma Bhajan Lal Sharma (born 15 December 1966) is an Indian politician serving as the current chief minister of Rajasthan since December 2023. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he represents the Sanaganer constituency in the 16th Raj ...
(Bhajan is his first name, Lal is a middle name, and Sharma is a caste surname). Many women, especially in rural areas, take on the surname ''Devi'' (meaning Goddess) or ''Kumari'' (princess) when they are married (ex. Phoolan Devi, known as Phoolan Mallah before marriage). Muslims in North India use Islamic naming conventions.


Kannada

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
names vary by region as follows.
North Karnataka North Karnataka (kannada: ಉತ್ತರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ''Transliteration: Uttara Karnataka'') is a geographical region in Deccan plateau from elevation that constitutes the region of the Karnataka state in India and the region consi ...
follows the First name – Father's first name – Surname order. 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. ''Katti'' as a suffix is used for soldiers while ''Karadis'' is related to local folk art. Surnames according to trade or what they traditionally farm include ''Vastrad'' (piece of cloth), ''Kubasad'' (blouse), ''Menasinkai'' (chili), ''Ullagaddi'' (onion), ''Limbekai'', ''Ballolli'' (garlic), ''Tenginkai'' (coconut), ''Byali'' (pulse), and ''Akki'' (rice). Surnames based on house include ''Doddamani'' (big house), ''Hadimani'' (house next to the road), ''Kattimani'' (house with a platform in its front), ''Bevinmarad'' (person having a big
neem ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, margosa, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of the two species in the genus '' Azadirachta''. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and to parts of S ...
tree near his house), and ''Hunasimarad'' (person having a big
tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...
tree near his house). A carpenter will have ''Badigar'' as a surname, while ''Mirjankar'', ''Belagavi'', ''Hublikar'', and ''Jamkhandi'' are 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), and ''Rotti'' (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 like ''Ballal'', ''Shetty'', and ''Rai'' are mostly used by the landed Bunt community. Names in coastal Karnataka have both systems Village name–Father's name–Personal name–Surname and Personal name – Father's name – Surname. Names in
South Karnataka South Karnataka generally refers to the southern part of Karnataka state, excluding the coastal areas. It generally corresponds to former Mysore state. It is generally referred as Hale Mysuru Region in Kannada which translates to Old Mysore Re ...
follow Village name – Father's name – Personal name – Surname. Examples: * H radanahalliD[evegowdaKumaraswamy">vegowda.html" ;"title="radanahalliD[evegowda">radanahalliD[evegowdaKumaraswamy: Haradanahalli is his native village, Devegowda is H. D. Deve Gowda, his father's name, and Kumaraswamy is his given name. * T[umkur] M[ahesh] Pranav: Tumkur is his native town, Mahesh is his father's name, and Pranav is his given name. For married women, it is Husband's name – First name or the opposite (ex. Sumalatha Ambareesh, where
Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted ...
is her husband's name). In South Karnataka, caste names are not common except among the higher castes. Kannada Brahmins have surnames like ''Rao'', ''Murthy'', ''Poojari'', and ''Bhat''. The title ''Gowda'' was a title given to any village headman, irrespective of caste, and was written as an appendage to the person's name. For example
Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, is an Indian politician who is serving as the 22nd List of chief ministers of Karnataka, chief minister of Karnataka from 20 May 2023. He also held that position previo ...
's father belonged to the
Kuruba Kuruba is a Hindu caste native to the Indian state of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are the third-largest caste group in Karnataka. Traditionally, these are shepherds who used to do the work of sheep/goat and animal ...
community but was called Siddarame Gowda. Nowadays it is mostly used as a
Vokkaliga Vokkaliga (also transliterated as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community of closely related castes, from the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. As a community of warriors and cultivators they have historical ...
surname. Most people in South Karnataka, regardless of caste, do not use caste surnames.


Kashmiri

Kashmiri names often follow the naming convention First name – Middle name (optional) – Family name. (For example:
Jawahar Lal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...
) 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. Some
Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...
s follow similar naming customs to Tamils and people in South Karnataka, using Village name – Father's name – Personal name. Some Muslim Malayalis also 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, ''Karunakaran'' is his given name and ''Kannoth'' is his mother's house name. P. K. Vasudevan Nair, ''Vasudevan'' is his given name and ''Nair'' is his caste surname. Most of the Malayalis write name as Given name – Father's name – Grandfather'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 the Family/house name – Father's name – Baptismal name naming convention. Nowadays, however, Christians have various naming conventions such as Name – Surname – Father's Name or Name – Father's name'' or ''Name – Surname'' or ''Name – Father's Name – Grandfather's Name''.'' It can be concluded that Syrian Christian names are Patryonmic. E.g.:
Arackaparambil Kurien Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian lawyer, attorney and statesman who served as the Minister of Defence (India), Minister of Defence of India from 2006 to 2014, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in In ...
, better known as A. K. Antony, here the politician'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 like
Deepak Deepak ( / ) is a Hindi word meaning "lamp", from the Sanskrit source word for light. The name Deepak symbolizes a bright future. In the twentieth century, it became very popular as a first name for male Hindus. Names like ''Deepa'' (now commonl ...
, Rahul, Neethu,
Asha ''Asha'' () or ''arta'' (; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right wor ...
etc. But by the 21st century more biblical names began to reappear. Thus names like,
Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
,
Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
,
David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
,
Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...
,
Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...
,
Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...
, appeared on the scene.


Marathi

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
people of Hindu religion follow a partially
patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...
naming 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. *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 from Hindu mythology, Hindu mythological epics such as the ''Ramayana'' or ''Mahabharat'', names of holy rivers such as Yamuna and Godavari, Hindu historical characters from Maratha or Indian history such as Shivaji and Ashoka, Marathi varkari saints such as Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar, Janabai, popular characters from modern Marathi literature, names of fragrant flowers for girls (e.g. Mimusops elengi, Bakul, Kamal/Kamla for Lotus flower, lotus), senses such as ''Madhura'' for sweetness, precious metals such female name ''Suwarna'' for gold, heavenly bodies such as the Sun and the Moon, ''Vasant'' and ''Sharad'' for spring and autumn respectively, names of film stars (e.g. Amit after
Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...
) or sportsmen, and after virtues (e.g.,''Vinay'' for 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 suffix ''kar'' to the village from which the family originally hailed. For example, Junnarkar came from town of Junnar, Waghulkar comes from the town of Waghul. Names like Kumbhar, Sutar, Kulkarni, Deshpande, Deshmukh, Patil (surname), Patil, Pawar, Desai, and Joshi denote the family's ancestral trade or professions. Families of the historical Maratha chiefs use their clan name as their surname. Some of these are Jadhav, Bhosale, Chavan, Shinde, Shirke, Morè (clan), More, Nimbalkar, Pawar, and Ghatge. Members of the numerically largest Maratha (caste), Maratha-Kunbi cultivator 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 names vary based on religious and regional sub-systems. Punjabi Punjabi Muslims, Muslims, Punjabi Hindus, Hindus, and Punjabi Sikhs, Sikhs follow different naming traditions. Punjabi Muslims often have Urdu or Islamic names, such as Muhammad, whilst Hindus have general Hindu names. Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus may share a common set of names. For Punjabi Muslims and Hindus, names are generally not unisex and thus certain names are only given to bearers' belonging to a particular gender. For Muslims, an example of this is ''Razia'' being given to females whilst for Hindus an example is ''Shóba'' being given to females. For Punjabi Sikh names, a common set of names are used for both males and females as Sikh names are generally unisex, with the marker of the gender of the bearer resting on if either Kaur or Singh forms part of their name. After getting married, Punjabi women adopt a new name from their husband's family. Married Sikh and Hindu Punjabi women have the ''shrimatī'' title prepended to their first name when others call on them. Meanwhile, unwedded Punjabi women have the ''kumārī'' title prepended to their first name when others mention them. In intimate settings, both the personal name or the family name are said. Honorifical terms, such as ''-ji'', can be used in conjunction either the first, middle, or last name, being appended to the respective name. To show closeness to someone, the person's nickname may also be appended with the -ji honorifical suffix. In rural areas of Punjab, wives generally do not refer to their husbands by their actual first name, preferring instead to use vocative rather than interrogative intonative language. Methods of this including calling their husband as the father of one of their children, such as "the father of Ram", or by using expressions, such as ''bolde náī'' ['don't (you) speak'] or ''suNde o'' ['do (you) hear (me)?']. Some rural wives only call their husbands with the ji honorific. Another naming trend in rural Punjab is naming children "unflattering names with negative overtones" due to a prevailing superstition.


Sikh

Sikhs, Sikh names often have the following format: First name – Religious name – Family name. Sikh first names serve as personal names and are selected through the Naam Karan ceremony, where a random page of the Guru Granth Sahib is opened by a granthi (Sikh preist) and the first letter of the first prayer on the opened page is used as the basis for the first name as an initial. Most Sikh first names are unisex and often are appended with prefixes and suffixes, such as -''jit'', -''winder'', or -''want''. The religious name is ''Singh'' ("lion") for males and ''Kaur'' ("princess") for females. First and religious names are usually used together by Sikhs. Some Sikhs have a family name whilst others only have a personal name and religious name. For the Sikhs that have a family name, it usually consists of a caste-based or sub-caste-based name which marks the individual's caste identity. Sikhism opposes the caste system, thus traditionally Sikhs did not have caste-based surnames, however they have been adopted by some Sikhs to match with naming conventions outside of India. For the Sikhs who do not have a caste-based surname, some use Singh or Kaur as their surname instead. Many Sikhs append the name of their sub-caste (known as a ''got'' in Punjabi and ''gotra'' in Hindi) as their surname. A ''got'' is an exogamous grouping within a particular caste (known as a ''zat'' in Punjabi and ''Jāti, jati'' in Hindi). A ''zat'' is an endogamous caste grouping, which contains ''gots'' under it. Some Sikhs are against the usage of ''got'' names as surnames because they think it promotes the Caste, caste system and the discrimination that comes from it, which is against Sikh doctrines. Sikhs tend to marry someone belonging to a different ''got'' as themself whilst belonging to the same ''zat''. Since the second-half of the 20th century, some Sikhs from socially and economically-disadvantaged castes have adopted the gotra names of privileged castes as their surnames in an attempt to hide their original caste-background and seek upward social mobility. ''Sardar'' for males and ''Sardarni'' for females are sometimes prefixed as titles. A lot of Sikh first names can be used by both sexes.


Tamil

Tamils, Tamil names usually follow this pattern: Initial (Village name) – Initial (Father's name) – First name – Surname (Example: M. G. Ramachandran, M.G. Ramachandran, where the M stands for Marudur, Coimbatore, Marudhur, 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 a Patronymic#India, patronym (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. One of the factors is due to the influence of the Dravidian 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 their Caste system in India, caste identity, leading to social stigma. This is just one of the reasons. 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 include ''Paraiyar, Vishwakarma (caste), Vishwakarma, Vishwakarma (caste), Aachari, Konar (caste), Konar, Konar (caste), Idaiyar, Reddiar, Udayar (caste), Udayar, Yadav, Yadhavar, Iyengar, Iyer, Pillai (surname), Pillai, Mudaliar, Thevar, Nadar (caste), Nadar, Chettiar, Gounder, Naicker'', Vanniyar etc. 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

Telugu people have a different naming style from the rest of India. The family name is a genitive case, hence stands first, which is followed by personal name. This practice of placing family name first is also seen in Chinese people, Chinese, Japanese people, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese people, Vietnamese and Hungarians. This "Family name (surname), Given name" format differs from that used in North India, where the family name typically appears last. This practice also contrasts with that of other parts of South India, where family names are little used. These differences can sometimes cause confusion within India and rest of the world. Occasionally,
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
name 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. Telugu Muslims, however, typically 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''" (). Telugu family names are often named after places. For example, ''Pasupaleti'' after Pasupaleru, ''Kondaveeti'' after Kondaveedu Fort, Kondaveedu, ''Kandukuri'' after Kandukur, Prakasam district, Kandukur, 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.


Indexing

According to ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', Indian names are usually index (publishing), indexed by the family name, with the family name separated from the other names by a comma, but indexing may differ according to the local usage and the preferences of the individual.Indexes: A Chapter from The Chicago Manual of Style
(). Chicago Manual of Style. Retrieved on 23 December 2014. p. 26 (PDF document p. 28/56).


Global Indian influence in names

See Indosphere, Sanskritisation, Indianization of Southeast Asia as well as Indian honorifics#Influence on other cultures, Influence of Indian honorifics in Southeast Asia, influenced the Malay styles and titles, Malay/Indonesian names#Honorifics, Indonesian, Thai royal ranks and titles, Thai, and Filipino styles and honorifics, Filipino honorifics.


See also

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


References


Works cited

* * *


Further reading

*Bhupatiraju, Sandeep, Daniel Chen, Shareen Joshi and Peter Neis, “doi:10.62355/ejels.23821, Caste Aside? Names, Networks and Justice in the Courts of Bihar, India“, ''European Journal of Empirical Legal Studies'', Vol. 1(2) (2024):151–178. *Kaushik, Devendra Kumar (2000)
Cataloguing of Indic Names in AACR-2
''. Delhi: Originals. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Name Indian names, Surnames of Indian origin, * Indian given names, * Names by country Hindu given names