Telugu Names
The family names of Telugu people precede the given name and are mostly abbreviated. For example, the name Kambham Nagarjuna Reddy would be abbreviated as K.N.Reddy. In this name Nagarjuna Reddy is the given name, and Kambham would be the family name (surname).Some of the people who belong to a particular Reddy caste include the caste names in their names, especially Naidu, Chowdary, Pillai, Shetty, Thota, Goud or Mudiraj.For example,Vijay Reddy, Hari Chowdary, Devender Goud. In general, if the name of a person in Western format was Vijay Reddy Kandi (given name, second given name and family name), then the name in Telugu-speaking areas would be written as K. Vijay Reddy. There are same surnames like Lankala to many castes, such as Lankala Veeraiah in Yadav caste, or Lankala Deepak Reddy in Reddy caste.
Sharma, Shastri,and Rao are commonly found family names among Telugu Brahmins, Rao mainly used for Velama caste. These names are mostly placed at the end of their name; for example, in Karne Prabhakar Sharma,Karne stands for the surname and Sharma indicates the person belongs to Bramhin community.There are various other surnames of different gotras among the Bramhin community.e.g.:Kashyap, Bharadwaj etc.
Family names of Telugu people are supposed to be the name of the village or area their ancestors came from. Sometimes the family name can be the same for people belonging to different castes.For example Nandumuri Taraka Ramarao could be abbreviated as N. T. Rama Rao. Taraka Rama Rao is the given name and probably Nandumuru (a village in Krishna) is the ancestral village of N.T.R.
Sometimes the family name can be same as human body part such as Boddu (umbilicus) or Lingam (male genitalia). However, there is always spiritual meaning associated for those names. In spiritual sense, Boddu means center of origin of universe, Lingam means Lord Shiva.
Read more about this topic: Indian Name, South Indian Names, Surnames or Family Names
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“It is a sad truth, but we have lost the faculty of giving lovely names to things. Names are everything. I never quarrel with actions. My one quarrel is with words.... The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one. It is the only thing he is fit for.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)