Indian Surnames

In Southern India it is traditional to have three names: the name of the village, the father's name and the personal name (in that order). Many families are now adopting the Western style of personal name and family name but are using different strategies to convert their traditional names which leads to some confusion. Trade names are also used as surnames - some of these have developed quite recently from English, such as Merchant, Engineer and Contractor. Anglo-Indians (people of mixed English and Indian ancestry) were traditionally railway workers and used names which reflected this.

This collection of names was compiled by Kate Monk and is ©1997, Kate Monk.

Copies may be made for personal use only.