Indian family name

Indian family names fall into several categories:

• Caste or subcaste name: These are analogous to western family names like Smith and Barber to the extent that they represent occupation. However, Indians almost always marry within the caste, and often within the subcaste.

• Religion: Several Sikhs are named Singh, and most Jains are called Jain. It must be noted that there are Hindus with these two names as well.

• Village/town name: Many Indians have the name of their place of origin as the family name. In this case the surname is placed before the given name. Some Indians have both a village name and a caste name as part of their name, for instance Madurai Mani Iyer. Here Madurai is a town and Iyer is a caste.

• Many Indians, especially South India, do not have a family name.