Deshastha Brahmin - Surnames and Families

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.