FYI, I'm an American. The first family from India I met had the surname "Gupta." Since then, I've met a lot of Guptas, several Chopras and quite a few Ganeshes.
I've read the Wikipedia entry for Indian names (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_name) so there's no need to cite it or explain to me how surnames are formed, used or not used.
What I'm wondering about is what that article doesn't explain: The prevalence (or lack) of surnames (last names) in India, which are most common, and [if possible] the meanings of the most common surnames, if appropriate.
Thanks in advance! I always pick a best answer, so this is a sure 10 points for the person with the best answer.
2006-12-08 17:24:15 · 32 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Common Northern India Surnames: (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab,etc)
Sharma
Verma
Gupta
Malhotra
Bhatnagar
Saxena
Kapoor, Kapur
Singh
Mehra
Chopra
Sarin
Malik
Common Eastern India surnames: (Bengal, Orrisa, etc.)
Chatterjee
Sen
Bose
Sengupta
Das
Dasgupta
Banerjee
Chattopadhyay
Mukopadhyay
Dutta
Common Southern India surnames: (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, etc.)
Nair (or Nayar)
Pillai
Rao
Jayaraman
Venkatesan
Balasubramanium
Subramanium
Rangan
Rangarajan
Common Central India (Bihar/ Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc)
Singh (Common for North also)
Yadav
Jhadav
Jaiteley
Chauhan
Mistry
Khan
Common Western India surnames: (Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc)
Shah
Mehta
Patel (Gujarati)
Patil (Maharashtrian)
Pawar, Powar
Gavde
Kadam
Tambe
Chavan
D'souza, Lobo, Rodrigues, D'Costa (Goan/ Pondicherry surnames- Former Portugal Colonies in India)
2006-12-08 17:53:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 71⤊ 10⤋
Indian Surnames
2016-12-11 09:04:41 · answer #2 · answered by shoaf 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Indian Last Names
2016-10-04 01:29:17 · answer #3 · answered by dunkelberger 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kerala / Malayalam / Malayalee Hindu most common lastnames or surnames:
Nair
Pillai
Panicker
Kurup
Menon
Thambi
Nampoothiripad
Naboothiri
Bhattathiri
Nambeesan
Warrier
Kaimal
Varma (notice, it is spelled with Va instead of Ve)
Kokani (Gauda Saraswatha Brahmin) last names
Kamat
Kamath
Shenoy
Rao
Sharma
Naik
Bai (usually for women)
2015-11-03 07:57:15 · answer #4 · answered by Jay. 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
SINDHIS SURNAMES......
Hinduja
Ahuja
Advani
Kriplani
Talreja
Pahuja
Jethmalani
Makhija
Chugh
Gaba/Gabeja
Manuja
Dusseja
Bhatia
Makhija
Kalani
Rajani
Gereja
Punjabi
Mirani,
2015-04-04 20:17:55 · answer #5 · answered by Mahesh 1 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Kumar
Sharma
Kapoor
Arora
Agarwal
Dave
Duggal
Patel
Anand
2015-05-04 23:21:51 · answer #6 · answered by Arjun 1 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Indian surnames also sometimes reflect the hereditary profession of individuals. The surnames also show the places of their stay or origin-prominent forefathers and so on. These days identifying surnames are withdrawn by people to hide family professions which are not always held in high esteem in the society.
2014-03-31 19:53:52 · answer #7 · answered by Indranil S 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Patel
Gupta
Macherla
Sharma
Chopra
Pura
Thilsa
Ram
Singh
2013-11-11 07:36:41 · answer #8 · answered by Ankit 1 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Marathi Surname
bansode
shinde
kamble
bhalerao
gade
Bhosle
Zanze
kate
dhore
landge
jadhaw
more
mate
barathe
lande
phuge
kand
sanas
chawhan
pinjan
dabhade
kalbhor
takle
sonawne
2016-12-28 07:02:49 · answer #9 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kapadia
Matha
2016-03-08 08:11:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Singh, Kaur, Devi, Dev, Murthy, Chaudhary, Gandhi, Patel, Khan, Hasan, Ali, Hussain, Dorji, Gurung, Das, Sharma, and Verma, are some of the most common last names throughout India. There are thousands of other surnames.
2014-02-09 08:11:36 · answer #11 · answered by Smart Indian 4 · 0⤊ 4⤋