Surnames and Families
A large number of Deshastha surnames are derived by adding the suffix kar to the village from which the family originally hailed. For example, Bidkar came from town of Bid, Dharwadkar from the town of Dharwad in Karnataka, and the Marathi poet V. V. Shirwadkar, colloquially knows as Kusumagraj, came from the town of Shirwad. The names Kulkarni, Deshpande, and Joshi are very common amongst Deshastha Brahmins, and denote their professions. For example, Kulkarni means revenue collector and Joshi means astrologer. Some surnames simply describe physical and mental characteristics such as Hirve which means green or Buddhisagar which literally translates to an ocean of intellect.
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Famous quotes containing the word families:
“Many older wealthy families have learned to instill a sense of public service in their offspring. But newly affluent middle-class parents have not acquired this skill. We are using our children as symbols of leisure-class standing without building in safeguards against an overweening sense of entitlement—a sense of entitlement that may incline some young people more toward the good life than toward the hard work that, for most of us, makes the good life possible.”
—David Elkind (20th century)