Surnames Groupwise With Their Origins

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                         PARSI IRANI SURNAMES - GROUP-WISE

                                                                         ~ RESEARCHED & COMPILED BY - BURJOR MINOCHER DABOO. - AHMEDABAD {E-Mail : burkhurdar@gmail.com}

As a result of the Sophisticated modern temper and the economic system having undergone a gradual transformation, surnames too transgressed. Certain surnames, in Vogue a few decades back have been dropped today & many origins of the extant surnames are forgotten today!

      My aim is to bring to light a few of them & segregate them in Groups. Surnames also show assimilation of other communities, as Parsis in India were exposed to the majority communities from time to time. Though they retained most of their Religious & Cultural traits & endeavoured

to maintain & pursue their Distinct Identity by discouraging intermarriages. Many social traits were adopted. As the bulk of the Parsi Diaspora settled in Western Gujarat, they adapted to Gujarati Language & thus adopted many surnames & characteristics of the Gujaratis. Like Moti, Laal, Patel etc.

          The Surnames of Irani Zoroastrians Seem distinct from that of those who assimilated in India. It can be gleaned from the various surnames, that Majority of them are Trades & Professions; Followed by Geographical Or Places; Positions & Titles; Characteristics or Descriptions;

Genealogy, Irani Origin, European Terms; Religious Terms etc. Some Muslim effect too can be gleaned from Surnames like- Mulla, Mirza, Nazir Khansaheb, Davar etc. With the advent of the Europeans in India, The Fair skinned Parsis who were ready to adopt to any circumstances

got into their good books. Certain Surnames were adopted from the Company they used to work for Like Gordon, Polson, Dallas, Boyce, Devitre etc. Some were anglicised ~ Chinai to Chinoy, Sheth to Sett, Nanabhai to Nanabhoy, Vakil became Lawyer, Shroff became Banker etc.

          Surnames ending in 'WALA' (mainly - Of) could be either of Place or Of that Trade. The same way, 'GAR'/'GARA' too could be 'A MAKER', or it could show 'OF A PLACE' {Actually it is GAR / GARA - To Make} & {GHAR / GHARA - Stayer} It shows that the Parsis were everywhere, right from

Zaiwala to Madraswala to Adenwala, adopted from the place they lived & were masters at the Trade done, from Roowala, to Workingboxwala to Wadiwala, to Ghaaswala & Merchant to Raja, etc. Some surnames were dropped & only father's name adopted Dadabhai Naoroji (DORDI)

& Jamshedji Jeejjeebhoy (Batliwala) are famous instances. Certain TITLES have adorned the Parsis like Desai From Navsari. A Changa Asha of Navsari was first made 'Desai' (District Officer In Charge), Similarly Talati ( Accountant), Munshi (Secreatary), Daftari (Record Keeper),

Kotwal (Police Magistrate), Patel ( Headsman), Subedar (Army Personnel) Mulla (Master, Judge), Nazir (Seer), Aga (Nobleman) etc.

~ I HAVE ADDED COMMENTS ON SOME SURNAMES, SHOWING ITS ORIGIN ! SOME ORIGINS ARE HARD TO FIND, & NO COMMENT IS MADE ! ~

~ I HAVE RESEARCHED A LOT FOR THIS! GRANT ME DUE RECOGNITION ~ ACKNOWLEDGE MY WORK ~ DO NOT PASS IT ON AS YOURS!

Parsees have Generally adopted surnames from :~

1) TRADE / PROFESSION - Vakil, Doctor, Wadia, Ghaaswala, Pithawala, Unwala, Engineer, Major, Subedar etc.

2) PLACES Or GEOGRAPHICAL - SANJAN-Sanjana, SURAT-Surti, KHAMBHAT-Khambata, AKOLA- Akolawala, MADRAS- Madraswala etc.

3) POSITION & TITLES – Desai, Munshi, Munsaf, Khansaheb, Davar, Daftari, Patel, Aga etc.

4) DESCRIPTIVE NAMES / CHARACTERISTICS - Bhoot, Waghmar, GhooKhaoo, Gora, Batki, Behrana, Mooga, Motigaanwala etc.

5) RELIGIOUS TERMS - (Many No longer used) Daadaar, Yatha-Ahu-Vairyo, Dregubyo, Ahura, Parsi, Athajamyat, Zarathosty, Khodayji etc.

6) GENEOLOGY- Including the Father's Name : e.g. Dadabhai-NAOROJI, Sam-MANEKSHAH, Homi-DINSHAJI, Behram-KAMDIN etc.

Some Double Barrelled : (Name+Father's Name as surname): e.g. Dady+Seth, Kaamaa+Khan, Minocher+Homji, Meherji+Rana, Dada+Chanji, Etc.

7) EUROPEAN NAMES - Devitre, Lawyer, Boyce, Grant, Noble, Forbes, Gordon, Polson, Readymoney, Banker etc.

8) IRANI - Mondegari, Yegatabadi, Nasiarabadi, Yazadi, Falamarzian, Felfeli, Khobiyaar, Khodavandi, Pourbahrami, Yaganegi Most common being Irani itself.

                                                    ~ (UPDATED ON 10th Jan 2022) ~


LEGENDS:- I = Irani;   P = Place;   G = Genealogy;    C = Characteristics;   T = Trade;   R = Religious;    D = Double Barrelled;    E = European.