Shenoy is a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

from coastal Karnataka and

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

in India. It is found among

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community following Smartha Sampradaya of Kavale Matha or Madhva Sampradaya of either Gokarna Matha or Kashi Matha. The name is also in use among some Brahmin Christian families of

South Canara South Canara (South Kannada) was a district of the Madras Presidency of British Raj, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the administration at Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the mos ...

who trace their ancestry to the Goud Saraswat Brahmins of Karnataka, Kerala and Goa.''Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians'', Alan Machado Prabhu, I.J.A. Publications, 1999, p. 137

Etymology

There are two theories about the origin of Shenoy or Shenvi. # The Sanskrit word ''Shrenipati'', meaning the leader of the guild, which got converted as ''Shennivayi'' in ''

Apabhraṃśa Apabhraṃśa (, , Prakrit: ) is a term used by '' vaiyākaraṇāḥ'' (native grammarians) since Patañjali to refer to languages spoken in North India before the rise of the modern languages. In Indology, it is used as an umbrella term for ...

'', and later as ''Shenai'' or ''Shenvi'' in old Konkani. # It is from the Sanskrit word for 96, ṣaṇṇavati (षण्णवति). The significance of the word 96 among Konkanis is that 96 villages formed the core region of Goa. It is said that 96 clans / families of Saraswat Brahmins arrived in Gomantak and settled in one village each. 66 villages were in Sashti region (66 in Sanskrit is ṣaṭ ṣaṣṭi - षट् षष्टि. Sashti became Salcette during the Portuguese rule) and 30 villages were in Tiswadi region.

Background and origins

The Shenoys were generally involved in administration of the city and temples. The word 'Shenoy' itself means a writer or accountant. GSBs were administrators of the temples. The word 'Shenoy' is also interchangeable with its counterpart
Shanbhag
. The Saraswats migrated from Goa during the Muslim and Christian conquests during 1600, and carried their surname with them. Shenoy is derived from old Konkani word šeṇəy. Thus the word 'शणै' is transliterated in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

as ''Shenoy'' in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and as ''Xennai, Shenoi, Shenai, Shenvi'' or even '' Sinai'' in

. ''Xennoi'' is less commonly used in the erstwhile Portuguese Goa and Damaon, but nowadays it has given way to ''Xennai'' today. It was common in Goa for Shenoys and other Saraswats to add the name of their ancestral

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

after Shenoy to denote their origin.

Notable people

* Arun Shenoy: Indian-Singaporean composer and music producer who has received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination * Basti Vaman Shenoy: Konkani activist and founder of World Konkani Centre in Mangalore *

Chitra Shenoy Chitra Shenoy is an Indian actress and producer in South Indian movies and television series. She has acted in more than 600 films predominately in Kannada and Malayalam. She is known as the 'young mother' in the Kannada film industry having po ...

: South Indian TV and movie actress * Krishna V. Shenoy: Hong Seh and Vivian W.M. Lim Professor in the School of Engineering, Stanford University * Madhav Manjunath Shanbhag: Indian lawyer and activist on behalf of the Konkani people *

Nakul Shenoy Nakul Shenoy is an Indian mentalist, mind reader, and psychic entertainer based in Bangalore, India. Fascinated by the comic book hero Mandrake the Magician, Mandrake The Magician as a child, he grew up to be a Magic (illusion), magician and hy ...

: Indian mentalist, mind reader, and psychic entertainer * Prashant Shenoy: Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, Co-Founder and CTO at UniCourt * Prathima Devi: Kannada actress, wife of D. Shankar Singh, mother of

Rajendra Singh Babu S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu (born 22 October 1952) is an Indian filmmaker and occasional actor who works primarily in Kannada cinema. He was born and brought up in Mysore. His father Shankar Singh produced many films under the banner Mahatma Pict ...

* Preeti Shenoy: Indian author, speaker and illustrator * Samskruthy Shenoy: Malayalam TV and cinema actress * Shenoi Goembab (1877–1946): Konkani Pandit * Suresh V. Shenoy: Indian-American engineer, senior business executive and philanthropist * T. V. R. Shenoy: Journalist, editor, and columnist * T. S. Shanbhag: Owner of Bangalore's famous Premier Book Shop * Vandana Shanbhag: Indian former track and field athlete who represented India at the 1988 Olympics in the 4 x 400 metres relay race * Vasudev V Shenoy (1940 – 2015): Educationist, Educational Counsellor, Journalist and a Social Activist * Vijay Balakrishna Shenoy: Professor of physics and recipient of the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

, the highest science award in India * Vivek Shanbhag Indian story writer, novelist and playwright in Kannada

References

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Etymology

Background and origins

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading