Topic started by Tiggy (@ spider-loh-ta033.proxy.aol.com) on Wed Feb 6 17:43:22 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Can anyone tell me if the name Chinnapan is a Tamil name and if it is a first or surname? Also is Munisamy a Tamil name?

Responses:

• From: I (@ h66-59-174-253.gtconnect.net) on: Thu Feb 7 11:14:49
  
  Tamils do not have the concept of fisrt and family name (nor do many Indian communities before the advent of colonial masters)
  
  Chinanpan is a Tamil (but can be used by Malaylees too) name too is Muniswamy (but is common to Telugu and Kannad speakers to)
  
  
• From: madhu (@ webproxy05qfe0.sbi.com) on: Thu Feb 7 15:20:45
  
  I,
  
  Telugus have a first(given) and a family name. In addition, they also have titles like Reddy, Rao, Naidu etc. Most of the Telugu family name are village names where they have originated. For example: Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Nara is a family name, Chandrababu is given name, and Naidu is a tittle.
  
  In addition, Telugus also have a gothram. People of same gothram are not allowed to marry. Gothrams are corrupted when people move from one village to another. Instead of using the gothram, the new village people reffered them with old village name as family name. My cousin did some research on our family and found out there are 36 familiy names share same gothram.
  
  
• From: ravi (@ 61.1.67.92) on: Fri Feb 8 01:20:32
  
  hi madhu
  heard about the telugu family name "thothali" or "sergur"
  looking for my roots
  ravi
  
  
• From: fridge (@ netcache6.is.co.za) on: Fri Feb 8 02:17:11
  
  The name "Mundie" does not sound Tamil, does anyone know where it could have branched out from.
  I think the name was adopted from the name of a place in India.
  
  
• From: I (@ h66-59-174-253.gtconnect.net) on: Fri Feb 8 09:03:37
  
  Fridge
  
  Mundie could be a corruption of Muniandi a typical Tamil name of yore, not in use anymore.
  
  It could also be a village name for that you have to locate a list of village names in the former Madras presidency. It could be in TN or AP.
  
  
• From: fridge (@ netcache6.is.co.za) on: Mon Feb 11 02:22:39
  
  Thank you I
  
  
  
• From: I (@ h66-59-174-253.gtconnect.net) on: Tue Feb 12 09:55:53
  
  Indian Naming conventions
  
  Indians in general did not have a concept of Surname till the arrival of the colonials contrary to many claims.
  
  There were many diverse schemes of naming conventions, as are ethnic groups, castes and regional differences.
  
  Some common ones are simply a given name – that is just one name
  Other a combinations of Fathers names and the given name
  Another is a Combination of a place of origin/birth fathers name a nd a given name
  Another addition of caste title if one is of high status
  Another addition of the Gothram (which means a cow shed in Sanskrit) if one had a gothram
  
  Standardized Surname is still a rarity to most Indians.
  
  
• From: Vijaykumar (@ ) on: Fri Jan 30 04:07:43
  
  It has been long since I have wanted to know whether My Gothram is right /Is there at all a gothram called Achantallu.
  My Details are as follows incase you need
  
  Name - Vijaykumar
  
  Father's Name- Krishnamurthy
  
  House/Family Name - Pasupaleti
  
  Caste : Balija Naidu
  
  
• From: URS (@ 203.115.31.44) on: Fri Jan 30 05:07:27 EST 2004
  
  Is Balija Naidus the caste to which descendants of former Nayak rulers belong to now -a-days
  
  
• From: vani (@ 210.195.0.232) on: Fri Jan 30 08:00:52 EST 2004
  
  Hi,
  
  My name is Kogilavany, Im basicaly from malaysia. Im Telugu Brahmin. Our Gothram is Srivatsa. We are morden family who is very flexible about the cast. Im intrested in knowning about my cast. How dose Telugu Brahmin been catogerized in India. What type of family name do telugu brahmin's have? In which place my Gothram is?
  
  
• From: vani (@ 210.195.0.132) on: Sat Jan 31 08:21:28 EST 2004
  
  Hi,my family name is tellakulu. Can anyone explain to me what dose that stand for? im telugu brahmin.
  
  
  
• From: Ravindra Varma Vegiraju (@ 209-166-27-9.client.dsl.net) on: Thu Feb 12 13:08:59
  
  hi, i am just wondering where my ancestors could have from, my family name is VEGIRAJU and first name is RAVINDRA VARMA. my native plce is in andhra, but i never found any village name like vegiraju. it will be great if u can tell me about this.
  Thank You!
  Ravindra
  
  
• From: j (@ ws-204-108-72-10.lausd.k12.ca.us) on: Fri Feb 20 16:21:30 EST 2004
  
  ty
  
  
• From: kkkkkuuuuuuu (@ ws-204-108-72-10.lausd.k12.ca.us) on: Fri Feb 20 16:22:03 EST 2004
  
  kkkkkuuuuuuu
  
  
• From: m (@ ws-204-108-72-10.lausd.k12.ca.us) on: Fri Feb 20 16:22:46 EST 2004
  
  The British East India Company was actually a trading company and it received from the British crown charter to trade with the Indian sub-continent. They arrived in India for spice trade in 1600. Like other European powers that arrived in India, they at first requested from the local rulers permission to trade in their entities. The British East India Company was more sophisticated than other Europeans who arrived in India. This company offered different sophisticated agreements to the different Indian ruling families, which made them the actual managers of the Indian kingdoms. They sometimes used their army against local rulers and annexed their territories with the result that there was lot of embitterment among the Indians against the British. After the 'Indian Mutiny' of 1857, the British Crown took back the charter from the East India Company and ruled India directly through a Viceroy. The British gave India independence in 1947, but its last soldier left India eventually in 1950. The French also left India in 1950. The Portuguese were the last to leave India in 1961.
  Even though the European powers arrived in India for commercial reasons, they also started converting local Indians to Christianity. Of the five European powers the Portuguese were most enthusiastic to baptize Indians. The Portuguese inspired by the Pope’s order to baptize people around the world not only fought wars against the local Indian rulers, but also they tried to enforce their Roman Catholic prayers on Syrian Christians who were in India before the modern European powers arrived in India (see Christianity in India).
  After many wars the Portuguese were defeated by local rulers and they had only one big pocket of control in India, Goa. Goa was made the capital of Portuguese colonies in the eastern hemisphere. The Portuguese not only fought the Indian rulers, but they also fought against other European powers in India especially Dutch and English. Many Portuguese churches in Kerala were converted into English and Dutch churches after they were captured by these powers.
  The English missionaries started acting in India at a much later period. The British arrived in India in 1600 and they allowed the missionaries to enter their territory only from 1813. The British allowed different churches to establish missionaries in their territory. The missionaries didn’t only spread Christianity, but they also did humanitarian deeds giving the needy the basic necessities of life like food, clothes and shelter. The missionaries also built schools in India and many of them exist even today and have Christian or European originated names.
  Christianity:
  About 2.5% of India’s population are Christians. Christianity arrived in India almost about the same period as it arrived in Europe, meaning about 2000 years ago. Christianity originates in Israel.
  
  In 1857 a large part of the Indian army rebelled against the British authorities; the ensuing bloodshed sent shockwaves throughout colonial Britain.
  
  
  
• From: venkata siva reddy (@ dialpool-210-214-180-82.maa.sify.net) on: Sun May 2 02:56:25
  
  hi
  
  iam from bangalore
  
  my name is devarinti venkatasiva reddy
  
  can u explain me the surname and middle name and also last name with my gothram
  by
  
  
• From: vasantha (@ ) on: Tue May 25 08:39:16
  
  kogila vany is not a telugu name .it's tamil.
  family name is different from caste or even religion. that is the reason we have andhra christians with family names.
  so it is not possible to say that telugu brahmins have so and so family name. it is dependant on the villag or town the family previously belonged to or titles the family previously held etc.
  i know few persons with different castes sharing the same family name.it came as a surprise to me.
  well gothra is the name of the rishi(saint)who started the family.
  
  
  
  
• From: vasantha (@ ) on: Tue May 25 08:39:35
  
  kogila vany is not a telugu name .it's tamil.
  family name is different from caste or even religion. that is the reason we have andhra christians with family names.
  so it is not possible to say that telugu brahmins have so and so family name. it is dependant on the village or town the family previously belonged to or titles the family previously held etc.
  i know few persons with different castes sharing the same family name.it came as a surprise to me.
  well, gothra is the name of the rishi(saint)who started the family.
  
  
  
  

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