South Indian Names
For a long time, South Indians had a simple naming system. Historically, everyone was given a single name, which was chosen on the basis of one of three possible ways:
- The name of their village/town, e.g., Singri (singiri), Bangalore, Udyavara, Chitti, Kular, Chavali, Inkollu, Hattiangdi, Janaswamy, Hubli, Kokradi, Mangalore, etc.
- Their family/clan name, e.g., Vala, Pavuluru(ri), Pulithevar, Sahonta
- Caste name, e.g., Hegde, Bhat, gowda, Shetty, Rai, Iyer, Reddy, Chowdary, Rao, Ganakan Nair, Kaniyar, Naidu etc.
Some Hindus in South India view the practice of adding the full family name to an individuals name to be a heretic practice, as according to their beliefs, the individuals heritage does not trump his or her own identity. And hence they are known to only use initials besides their name except for when caste names are given more preference by certain families rather than the family name itself.
Read more about this topic: Indian Name
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