Question


  • There is a bunch of related surnames that exist in different forms in various parts of the country – all over North India, South Kanara district of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. Perhaps more, if I do more research.
  • It is not immediately apparent that the surnames are derived from the same source. But once I mention it, it will sort of “pop out”.
  • The people bearing the surnames aren’t really related, nor do they think of themselves as belonging to the same caste.
  • But typically, they belong to the business class.
  • The surname comes from a Sanskrit word, meaning “merchant”
  • One of the North Indian surnames is also a generic Hindi word which sort of means merchant.

Give me the bunch of related surnames. Just giving me the North Indian or South Indian versions will not do. I need at least one of both.
Bonus points if you can give me the Sanskrit word also.

101 thoughts on “Question”

  1. Kannada- Shetty, Tamil- Chettiar, Telugu – Chetty, Hindi- Seth.

    It was too easy for me I guess, as I am from one of these and have done this research earlier 🙂

  3. There’s also another North-Indian business caste which derives it’s name from the Tamil word for business-person. Guess?

  5. Kingsley, my guess would be Baniya.. (There is a Tamil caste called Vanniya right?)

    Ravages, you can still guess the original Sanskrit word

  6. Ravi,

    Shetty, Chetty and Chettiar are related; but are you sure that Seth and Shet are from the same family. The Shet’s of the Konkan are are goldsmiths.

    Btw, some (South) Indian Muslims have a surname called “Sait” too.

  7. Nope Nitin, I have explicitly said that they do *not* belong to the same family (i.e. they did not belong to one caste that migrated all over the country and then split)
    The connection is linguistic. The surnames all come from the Sanskrit word for merchant which is “Sreshti”(Also none of you mentioned this, but Sethi is also a North Indian surname)

  10. Yes, you right. Only, Vanniyar is also a derivative of an older word, Vanigar, which means trader and is still used by itself.

  12. Sharma is a common surname among the brahmin communities from UP as well as Andhra who tend to spell it as Sarma.
    Choudhary exists in the Northern belt among Jats as well as in UP/MP. In Andhra Choudhary is prevalent among the Kamma community who are usually land lords as well as in the Arts (cinema), Politics & IT.
    Shastri is also similar like Sharma and used in the brahminical community across north as well as among Andhra’s, Tamilians & Kannadigas.

    Surprisingly Singh is used by a section of tamil christians in the Nagercoil region of tamil nadu. i had school masters called kartan Singh and sundar singh. the former was popularly called “Cut Balls (singh)”

  18. My Great Grandfather was named Ram Rao. His son, my grandfather changed his surname to John. My father kept John as his surname for his entire life. I, his son have had this surname John till now when I am 55 years of age. My son also bears the surname John and he is 32 years old. Both my son and I now want to change our surname to Rao, after my great grandfather. Pleas someone guide me in the direction where I can get some satisfactory pertinent information about this surname which I intend to resurrect from the dead.

    email me at maurice.j@rediffmail.com

    thanks.

  19. Please…I need to know where the name(surname) Vandayar originated from ?Is there a specific place in India where inhabitants have this surname??? I’m 4th generation American, and I’m looking for my roots. Please help me. Anyone.

  24. How does gotra relate to all of this. I’m South African, my great grandfather came from Andhra Pradesh (Godavery Amalapur Komanapalli).

    There is a family rumour that our name isn’t really Chetty. Is Chetty common in that part of the country? Our Gotra is Nabila, what is a Gotra and how does it relate to the name Chetty?

    Thanks,
    Jairaj

  25. Can some one send me a list of Indian surnames and the probable caste they belong to?

    Which caste does the word ‘ Dutt’ denote?

  26. Could someone immediately tell me to which caste do people with surname ‘MAHASETH’ belong? Gotra is ‘KASHYAP’ It is urgent as it is related to my marriage.
    Thanks.

  27. could any one tell me what caste belongs to the surname ‘prasad’?

    Thank you very much!! Have a nice day!!

  31. Joshis found in maharashtra and Karnataka
    Upadhya found in south canara karanataka….same as upadhyay in Bengali.
    Bhat in South canara same as bhatt and batt in north India.

  33. Joshi’s can also be andhra pradesh’s surname

    Shah’s can also be kshatriya’s and Vaishyas

    Sirju is a malayali name. But it is more of a firstname.

    Prasad is not a surname it is mostly that one derives father’s firstname as one’s last name. Though Prasad is most popular name in southern India.

    Gothra’s derive from forefathers who followed a particular saint. For eg. Kashyab Gothra ppl might have followed Kashyab saint, Gouthama Gothra ppl would have followed Gouthama as their family priest or whatever.

    There are some Gothra’s where you can say that it may belong to a particular sect, but some ppl use Gothra as names also, So there is no definitive way we can say by the way they use in their name, if one belong to a sect or not.

    Chauhan’s are basically punjabi’s.

    Vandayar’s are basically from Tamilnadu and andhra pradesh( before state seperation.) Though i do not have any documentation to refer to, i think vandayar is a caste by itself. I remember seeing it in the list of castes in India.

    I think Ansari’s are Bania’s , i may be wrong. I have seen some muslim’s having Ansari as surnames as well.

    Parsi’s and Muslims sort of share same origin, it is not uncommon that both have similar surnames.

    Note: These are just my observation.

  35. To a question on vaandayaars:

    I have heard a lot of names like thulasi aiyya vaandayaar – etc who have even contested in the MLA (legislative assembly) elections – from Thanjavur district of Tamilnadu.

    k.g.gouthaman

    kggouthaman@yahoo.com

  36. On surnames:
    Surnames are very common in North India.
    In the south, Last century people were known by their native place (prefix), father’s name or initial, and caste names – (suffix) like:
    pammal k. sambandha mudaliyar
    erode v. ramasamy naicker
    kanchipuram .nayina pillai
    maharajapuram s. viswanatha iyer
    and so on.
    In this century, people have cut off the caste tail.
    posted by: Kalyanamahadevi g(opala). gouthaman (iyer !)

  37. Hello!
    We are constructing a VERY BIG family tree.
    If you know any of the following persons or happen to be a relative of any of these people, please mail me :
    kggouthaman@yahoo.com
    telugu / tamil speaking communities –
    kalyanamahadevi – gouthama gothram or any other gothram
    subramania iyer – wife seshamma
    s. subbarayalu iyer – wife :na – daughter kuppuchechi
    s. ramachandra iyer – wife : pedhdha balu – adapted sons venkatrama iyer, krishnaswamy iyer.
    s. narayanappaiyer – wife adhilakshmi – daughter subbulakshmi
    s. seshachalam iyer – wife balamma – daughter bangaru; son subramania iyer (1874 – 1942)
    venkata narasimmaiya of thirunattiyathangudi

  38. hi what caste does parmar belong to,,, or can i have most information about the surename parmar??

    thx

  40. Can anybody help me with the origin of the surname Ranga.We were Shiva’s and all of a sudden for some reason became Vishnavas.My gotra is Nabhila.Any information or lead would be appreciated.

  41. hi all , i am lil confused whether to hav a surname or not . if yes what can it be. i read from above that it can be the business name or the name of orgination but thats not usually in practice with any one in TamilNadu, and neither my grandfather or my father hav one.

    Help me wht shall i do now!!

    VinothKannan
    vino3d@gmail.com

  42. My surname is Vandayar. I live in South Africa but suspect strongly that I have origins in Tamil Nadu or Madras since this seems to be the only areas people keep pointing me to. So yes Vandayar’s are still very much alive today.

  46. Hi

    I am South African. My grandfather name was Vaiythlingum Moonsamy Chetty. All I know he was born in South Africa, Durban in 13 December 1909. He later married and moved to Cape Town,South Africa.
    I am also not sure if his father was a Chetty or a Moonsamy.

    I am trying to trace the family. If anyone knows something please let me know.

    Thank you

    Randy

  48. To Mr.Thiru

    The Name Vandayar Is Native in Tanjore District .and it spread all over the world the surname it belongs to the caste kallar of “mukkulathore”
    probably called in the nation DEVAR .

  50. I know that SUBRAMANIEN is a Tamil name, but would like more information about its origin and meaning. Is SUBRAMANIAM a variant or a different name altogether?

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