Indian name: Difference between revisions

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Indian names are based on a variety of systems and naming conventions. Naming systems in India vary from region to region. Names are also influenced by one's religion and one's caste. India's population speaks a wide variety of dialects and nearly every major religion in the world has a large community in India. These variations make it difficult for non-natives to grasp the subtle differences in names and naming styles. For example, the concept of second name did not exist in South India, however modern legal systems initiated the use of second names with the goal of reducing the possibility of name clashes.

For many Indians, the birth name is different from the official name, the birth name starting with a letter considered auspiscious on the basis of the person's horoscope. Some children are given three names: A unique first name, often a unique middle name and the last name, which is usually the family name or grandfather/grandmother's (depending upon the sex of the child) first name or a God's name. Many children are named with two names: a first and last name. The first name is often unique and the last name is usually the family name. The occurrence of 4 names is uncommon, as are single unique names.

A proper name, or given name, is the name that a person most often answers to. Usually this name is also used in legal documents and official records. In some parts of India, the second name is used to indicate respect. Second names are often suffixed by '-ji' or '-saheb'/'-sahib' to additionally indicate respect.

Close relatives and friends call others by simply their given name. However in some regions, in the case of married women, especially in rural India, the name is entirely dropped and they are instead addressed as "wife of [husband's name]" or "mother of [son/daughter's name]". In the case of overlap in given name among multiple people in a community, adjectives such as 'big'/'small', 'old'/'young' or other nicknames may be used to distinguish them.

Many Indians do not have family names. Faced with having to come up with a last name, Indians have resorted to various means to get last names. Some of these are so common that most people do not even realize that they have had to, in effect, discover their last names. Most Indians fix their last names through one of these common methods of arriving at a last name. Most of the Indian family names are derived from several sources.

The caste or subcaste name is often used as a family name. These are analogous to western family names like Smith and Barber to the extent that they represent occupation. For example: Reddy (Hindu Telugu Landowner caste). However, Indians usually marry within the caste, and often within the subcaste. Modern legal requirements have caused many peoples to use the caste names as the equivalent of the second names. Examples of second names of this kind from southern India include 'Iyer', 'Iyengar', 'Nair', 'Naidu', 'Reddy', 'Gowda'. Caste names do not necessarily indicate occupation, like Western last names of Carpenter and Smith: Mohandas Gandhi belonged to the caste of Gandhis ("grocers"). He was a lawyer before he became a political leader. However, most Indians tend to marry within their caste. Gandhi's wife's maiden name, mother's maiden name and grandmother's maiden name were all Gandhi even if they came from unrelated families. Caste names are not really family names. e.g. Patel, Iyer, Mudaliar are all caste names. There are a few Exogamous division within caste. These are usually on the basis of deity worshipped by the family. For example, Tamma (within Reddy caste). This is widely followed by the Telugu people. Balgangadhar Tilak another Independence-era leader's last name belongs to this category. This is more common among castes, like the Brahmins, that are spread throughout the country. People of different subcastes may intermarry; hence, these are even more like Western last names. Kamath and Shenoy are both Konkani Brahmin last names. Clan names are used only in small communities scattered around the country. The Chota Nagpur tribals have animal deities with whom they claim kinship that are used as clan names. The Coorgis or Kodavas of South India also have clan names.

A person's religious affiliations also affects his last name. Sikhs as a community have adopted Singh(meaning Lion) as a suffix to their names and that is often used just as any other last name would be. Many Sikh Women use Kaur(meaning Princess) as their last names. The name "Singh" predates the Sikh faith and is still a common one for upper caste Kshatriyas; both as "Singh" or the suffix "-sinh" as part of their given or family names. "Singh" is related to the name of the country of Singapore. Zail Singh , one of India's ex-presidents was a Sikh scholar. Sikhs, followers of a faith founded during the Moghul rule in India, often have the middle name Singh and a last name that belongs to their clan, since Sikhs don't have castes, or town, like the cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu. But some Sikhs may drop the clan name and Singh then becomes the last name. Singh, on the other hand, is the preferred surname of several North Indian Hindus and is not exclusively used by Sikhs. Jains, followers of Mahavira, a contemporary of the Buddha, often use the last name Jain. Like "Singh", this is also a surname used by other Hindus especially upper caste Thakurs (Kshatriyas) or Rajputs. Typically a Hindu name will have a "given" first name, a middle name (which can be the father's name in some regions like Maharashtra), and a last name or family name. A southern Indian on the other hand will use only the first name along with his caste/village prefixed. Christian names in India have over the past two centuries evolved into an unique amalgamation of Indian and Western patterns. For example consider X. Antony Alex Miranda - Here, X represents Xavier, his father, Miranda, the surname or family name, Alex and Antory are the first and second names. The pattern of Muslim names is similar to Muslim names elsewhere.

Many South Indians, especially Tamils, use the name of their hometown as the family name. In this case the surname is placed before the given name. Some have both a village name and a caste name as part of their name, for instance Madurai Mani Iyer. Here, Madurai is a town and Iyer is a caste. Many Keralites especially Syrian Christians use as their last name the "tharavaad" -- a description of their ancestral home. Names like Pramod Perumparambil and Paul Chemmanoor fall under this category. In Maharashtra many family names are derived by attaching a "kar" to their place of origin. e.g. people whose last name is Gavaskar trace back their origin to the town of Gavas, The Tendulkars trace their origins to Tendol, Pawaskar to Pawas, and so on. Some Hindu families have names that reflect the academic achievements of their forefathers. e.g., Sastri - one who has studied the Sastras, Dwivedi - one who has studied two vedas, Trivedi - three vedas, Chaturvedi - four vedas. Others include Pathak, Acharya, Upadhyaya, Pandit, etc.

Some families in India tend to rename themselves on the basis of their profession. This is common among the Parsis, who have surnames ending with "wala" meaning someone who engages in a particular activity. Names like "Screwala" when the person might have sold screws or "cyclewala" (cycle seller) are quite common. In fact, "wala" is quite a common term that it is often used for any type of merchant. Many social ranks were also hereditary. Names such as 'Talukdar', 'Tehsildar', 'Tarafdar', 'Pillai' are based on social rank.

In southern India, especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where caste symbols tend to be kept private, there is widespread usage of a patronymic: use of the father's given name as the second name. This means that the given name of one generation becomes the second name of the next. In many usages, this second name is used as an initial and the given name may appear like a second name. For example a name like "Ajith Abraham" means "Ajith son of Abraham". If Ajith then has a son named Ashwin, then his name would be Ashwin Ajith. It is common for women to adopt their husband’s first name as their own surname. Sunitha Gopalan (Sunitha daughter of Gopalan) might change her name to Sunitha Rajiv (Sunitha wife of Rajiv) after marriage. Some South Indians use an inverted patronym as their last names. For example, Chitra Visweswaran is a dancer whose last name is either a patronym or the given name of her husband. More common among women, the inverted patronym is also adopted by people migrating West who want to be called by their given names without having to explain Indian naming conventions. Their last names are then the given names of their fathers or husbands.

Many Indians have no family names. This too is common among Tamils. The pressure of conformity and Westernization is especially strong for overseas Indians, often forces them to acquire surnames, either by inventing one, splitting their given name, or adopting their patronyms as family names. In North India, the first name is often split to generate a last name. "Arunkumar" can be split into "Arun Kumar". This is also common among Muslims with two names, like Abdul Kalam, the Indian Space researcher.

Jawaharlal Nehru , India's first Prime Minister had an invented family name. Nehru was a family name adopted by his father when they arrived in Allahabad from Kashmir. Thus, his wife's maiden name was not Nehru. This is obviously an exception to the statement that Indians do not have last names. Another example is the name of Rajesh Pilot, Indian ex-minister, who attached his surname after a stint in the Indian Air Force.

Sometimes a family name is added on to the end of the name as an initial, eg. Noushad S. U. (or S. U. Noushad) the shortened form of Noushad Shafi Ulooji, which is interpreted as Noushad, son of Shafi of the Ulooji family.

Till about two decades ago, some people were named in the 'Family name-Given name-Caste' format. Eg Kannoth Karunakaran Maarar, interpreted as Karunakaran of the Maarar caste from the Kannoth family.

It is also common for people to name their children after international personalities. Most of the times the surname of the aformentioned is used as a first name, like Einstein, Churchill, Kennedy, Beethoven, Shakespere etc. and tend to denote the parents' political affiliations. Like in Western societies, parents are beginning to experiment with uncommon names, or using words that aren't usually considered names, like Proton Padmanabhan, Alpha Jyothis and Omega Jyothis.

Among Christians in Kerala, it is a common practice to have a middle name which is the baptismal name, usually the first name of a grandparent or godparent, like Roshni Mary George and Anoop Antony Philip.

South Indians, for long time, had a simple naming system. Every one used to be called by a single name. Historically there have been three ways that South Indians chose their names:

• The name of their Village / Town e.g. Delhi Ganesh
• Their Family name e.g. Pulithevar
• Some used both e.g. Madurai Mani Iyer

The concepts of initials, middle names, family names and surnames is foreign to South Indians. Everyone had a single name like Murugesh or Lakshmanan. Occasionally these names were extremely lengthy, like Murugesa Lakshmanan. A lengthy name could be interpreted as a sign of affection on behalf of one's parents. However it did not assert the full name of that particular family nor did it gave more information as such about that family.

Under British rule, Indians were expected to follow English procedures for official purposes like registering births, enrolling children in school and registering land ownership details.

In Western societies, when there are two people with the same name, for example, Robert Jones and Robert Smith in a class, Robert J. and Robert S. respectively to avoid confusion. But, two Ramans in South India do not have different surnames, since Raman is their only name. So the names of their fathers is used as an initial instead of a surname, meaning Raman son of Gopal would be called G.Raman and Raman Son of Dinesh would be called D.Raman. This led to the initial system, mostly followed in South India. Adding an initial before the name is something of a social obligation. Most schools automatically add the initials upon enrollment. In certain societies, a person without an initial (and therefore presumed illegitimate) is looked down upon. An initial is also compulsory for government records. A missing initial in certificates, bank transactions etc. is sometimes considered illegal and may cause inconvenience.

Family names are closely tied to the caste system in India. In some parts of South India, traditional family names have recently been abandoned in favor of a father's/husband's first name as a family name. The use of a father's/husband's first name as a family name eliminates one's caste identity. These family names are also used as initials. School and college records would have the names with initials as given below. "S. Janaki" - the family name initial and then the given name. "S. Janaki" is also written as "Janaki Sridar" in legal documents.

Legal documents such as passports will have the last name fully expanded, instead of initials. Other legal documents such as property deeds will have any of these name formats with the mention of father’s /grandfather’s/husband’s name and/or village/town/city name.

Men's Names

Men's names are usually prefixed with initials as mentioned before. Some men used to omit the initial, adding the father's name in the end. However, this isn't a legal name and won't change their name in official records. For example, both P. Chidambaram and Chidambaram Palaniyappan are valid; however the latter form is not legally used.

Omitting initial and suffixing father's first name is usually used to shorten the long names:

Father's name: M. Gopal Krishnan

Name: G. Raja Ravi Varma

Shortened name: Raja Gopal ("Ravi Varma" is omitted)

Women's Names

For women, the system of initials is slightly different. Before marriage, a girl uses her father's initial, but after marriage, she uses her husband's initial.

For example:

Name: Sudha Kalyani

Father's name: L. Gopal Krishnan

Husband's name: K. Manohar Murthy

Before marriage: G. Sudha Kalyani or Sudha Gopal (in shortened form)

After marriage: M. Sudha Kalyani or Sudha Manohar (in shortened form)

*Names in italics refer common usage system among women.

Of late the trend has changed and many women, especially those employed, do not change the initials, but continue with their father's initials. This mainly for convenience’s sake, since usually a women's school degrees and career papers have her father's initials on them. Legally changing a name is a cumbersome procedure, including announcing the proposed change in a newspaper and then getting that published in official gazette. So the modern trend is to add the husband's name in the end, like some Western women who add their husband’s name with a hyphen. So our Sudha Kalyani now becomes Mrs. G.Sudha Kalyani Manohar or Mrs. G.Sudha Kalyani Murthy or Mrs. Manohar or Mrs. Murthy

Wrong Interpretation of Initials

People who don't understand Indian naming protocol, especially American magazines, tend to expand Indian initials in an incorrect manner. For example, the name P. Chidambaram, tends to be expanded to Palaniyappan Chidambaram, which is incorrect in the sense that it implies that the person's first name is "Palaniyappan," and the last name or the family name is "Chidambaram." As shown above, this is wrong, since the person's only name is "Chidambaram," with an initial of "P." Other such famous misrepresentations include the chess grandmaster, V. Anand (wrongly expanded as Vishwanathan Anand) and the freedom fighter and statesman, C. Rajagopalachari ( often cited as Charkaravarty Rajagopalachari).

Many South Indians also use a family name.

Last names are not common among the Tamil people, but most of the rest of India has a family name.

1. Invented Family Names such as that of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajesh Pilot.
2. The Anglo last name of Anglo-Indians -- descendants of British and Indian parents.
3. Portugese-Goan last names like Fernandes.
4. Syrian-Christian last names like Verghese are actually Malayali renderings of the Hebrew/Greek originals (eg. Verghese is George). Since these would be first names of some forefather several generations back, we could call these last names. They do not change from generation to generation and are family-specific.
5. Third or later generation expatriate Indians and others who now have last names that were the given names of one of their ancestors or have intermarried enough to ensure that the last names are not caste/religion names in disguise.

Many Tamils use a "vilasam". That gives the initials (a syllable in Tamil) of the person's paternal ancestors up to, say, 7 generations. This keeps every one readily identifiable. For example, in a reasonably-sized community Mu.Ko.Ka.Mu.Tha.Er. Ganesh would be the cousin of Mu.Ko.Ka.Mu.Tha.Ka. Ganesh.

Nowadays, the complete "vilasam" is used only on important occasions -- more commonly, only the first initial (father's) is used. Caste names are rarely used, since they are not very unique.

Some Telugus have the system of a family name or last name, followed by a given name or first name and then a caste name. Example: Nara Chandrababu Naidu. Nara is the family name, Chandrababu is the given name and Naidu is cast name. The correct form of address would be Mr. Naidu (not Mr. Nara). The middle name (Naidu) performs the equivalent function of a North American last name. A clan is identified by its family name, i.e Nara. So all three names or parts of the name have their function in this case.

In West Bengal, especially amongst Hindus, it is common to have a first and last name as well as a Daak naam, or a nickname, which is not listed in official documents.

In Maharashtra, the naming system is very similar to the first-middle-last format followed in the western world. e.g. "Sunil Manohar Gavaskar", here "Sunil" is the (first) name of the person. "Manohar" is the father's name, which is often abbreviated as an initial, and "Gavaskar" is the last or family name. Traditionally, women take their husband's name as their middle name and also adopt his family name. In Maharashtra sometimes a male newborn is named for his grandfather.

• List of Indian family names

• Discussion on Indian last names
• List of Indian Surnames
• Blog examing modern naming conventions