Indian surnames and family names are derived from a variety of systems and naming conventions. The surnames are influenced by religion, profession, region, caste etc. Here is our list of Indian surnames and their origin/ meaning. You can also add your surname to this list if it is not listed below. Send your contributions to indianhindunames@gmail.com.
· Abbott = A hindu khatri surname.
· Achari = Derived from Asari (Malayalam). Carpenters in profession.
· Acharya = Priest & teacher.
· Adiga = Priest from North Karnataka.
· Agarwal = Derived from Agarwala or 'a descendant from district Agroha', ancient name of Hissar city. Agroha had 18 districts - Garg, Mangal, Kucchal, Goyan, Goyal, Bansal, Kansal, Singhal, Jindal, Thingal, Airan, Dharan, Madhukul, Bindal, Mittal, Tayal, Bhandal, and Naagal. All these surnames are synonymous with Agarwals.
· Ahluwalia = A descendant from Ahlu, a village near Lahore.
· Ahuja = A descendant of Ahu.
· Arora = A descendant from Aror, today's Rohri in Sind.
· Asan = This word derived from sanskrit Acharya meaning teacher. Kaniyar community of south Kerala, uses this title in virtue of their traditional avocation as elementary school teachers.
· Bandopadhyay = A respected teacher.
· Banerjee = Teacher from the village of Bandoghat.
· Bharadwaj = Descendants of sage Bharadwaja.
· Bhat/Butt = Priest or Scholar.
· Bhattacharya = Priest & teacher.
· Bhattathiri = Particular class of Brahmins in Kerala.
· Chaturvedi = One who has learned all the four vedas.
· Chattopadhyay = A teacher from the Chatta village in Bengal.
· Chopra = Descendants of warrior Chaupat Rai.
· Desai = Means one who owns desh (place). Landlord.
· Deshpande = District accountant / head of region.
· Devar = Means God. Community is based in Tamil Nadu. Has Ambalakaarar (village headman), Maravar (warriors), Chervaar (palace workers) 4. Piramalai kallar (spies) as sub-sects.
· Dhawan = Messenger on the field of battle.
· Dubashi = Person who knows two languages, a Translator.
· Dutta = Drived from Aditya or Sun.
· Dwivedi = One who has learned two vedas.
· Embranthiri = Brahmins migrated from Karnataka and settled in Kerala.
· Ganaka = Hindu traditional astrologers (Kaniyar) in Kerala and Assam (Ganak Brahmins).
· Gandhi = From Sanskrit gandha which means perfume, perfume seller. In Gujarati the word also means grocer or pharmacist.
· Gill = Lake/Moisture/Prosperity. Punjabi sikh origin.
· Gowda = Karnataka origin. Village headman.
· Guha = Another name for Lord Kartikeya.
· Guneta = People originally from Queta/Sind.
· Gupta = Ruler/Protector.
· Iyer = Derived from Tamil word Ayya which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word Arya which means Noble.
· Iyengar = One who has undergone the 5 purification rituals.
· Jain = Follower of Jainism. Which is derived from Jina (one who overcomes).
· Jha = Someone who recites from memory.
· Johar = Sanskrit for Jewel.
· Joshi = Practioner of Jyotish or astrology.
· Kakkar = Strong.
· Kaniyar = Tamil-Malayalam translation of the Sanskrit word "Ganika"-r (those who calculate). Traditional astrologers of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
· Kapoor = Descendants of Moon.
· Kaul = Means well-born. Derived from Sanskrit word Kula.
· Kaur = Princess. Punjabi sikh origin.
· Khan = Turkish in origin. Means Chief/Ruler.
· Khanna = Derived from Khanda (sword).
· Khatri = Punjabi version of Kshatriya (ruler). Khanna, Kapoor, Seth, Mehra, Malhotra, Chopra and Walia are all Khatris.
· Kocchar = Armour.
· Mahajan = Literally means big People.
· Mahto = Head of the village.
· Malik = Arabic word for King.
· Marar = Performs music and percussions in Temples. Of Kerala origin.
· Menon = Of Kerala origin, Accountants.
· Mehra/Mehrotra = Descendants of Mihr (Sun).
· Mishra = Mixed or blended.
· Mukhopadhyay = Main Teacher.
· Nayar, Naik = Means leader, soldier.
· Nair = Derived from Nayak, means leader. Nambiar, Adiyodi, Kurup, Menon, Unnitthaan, Thampi, Mannadiyaar are sub class of Nair.
· Nambeesan = Lower class brahmin who performs temple duties in Kerala.
· Namboothiri = Particular class of Brahmins in Kerala.
· Nehru = One who lives on the bank of a Nehr or canal.
· Pandey = Saryuparin Brahmans who specialized in the study & research of the 4 Vedas and Puranas.
· Panicker = Derived from Sanskrit word Parinayaka (martial art preceptor). Kaniyar Panicker or Kalari panicker of Kerala is commonly known by this name.
· Patel/Patil = Village headman.
· Pilla/Pillai = Young lad, son. Malayalam and Tamil origin.
· Pothuvaal = Performs music and percussions in temples. Of Kerala origin.
· Prajapati - Suryavanshi descendants from Ikshvaku son of Manu prajapati (son of Daksha Prajapati).
· Rana = Ruler. Some speculate it's the male version of Rani.
· Reddy = Derived from "Rashtrakuta" which is Sanskrit for "Rettakudi". Rettakudi is converted into Rettadi and later Reddy.
· Saini = Head of army.
· Sethi = Derived from Sanskrit word Sreshti (Merchant). Incidentally Shetty/Chettiar has the same roots.
· Shah = Persian word for Monarch.
· Sharma = Hindu (Brahman) name from Sanskrit sarma means joy, shelter.
· Shukla = Bright.
· Singh = Derived from Sanskrit word Simha which means Lion.
· Sinha = From the Sanskrit word Simha which means Lion.
· Somayaji = Brahmin who performs Somayaga.
· Tagore = Anglicised version of Thakur (Lord).
· Talwar = Swordsman/Sword.
· Tandon = Warrior or sun.
· Trivedi = Learned in 3 vedas.
· Varrier = Temple dwellers of Kerala origin, who performs other temple duties than Puja
· Varma/Varman = Kshatriyas in South India. Affixed to the names of rulers.
· Verma = Hindu name, from Sanskrit word varman which means armor, protection.
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