Why do South Indian names have initials?

In south India, normally the first letter of the initials indicates the native place of the person and the second letter the name of the person’s father and the person’s real name is pushed to the end. The culprit behind this system is the person’s school leaving certificate.

Can I use initials as surname?

If you use a surname you must furnish the same here. No initials should be written and all initials (if any) in the applicant’s name should be expanded. No honorifics, titles such as Major, Doctor etc should be written. Surname could have two words like Roy Choudhary or Das Gupta.

Is initial and last name same?

Your surname is your family name. It’s also called your “last name.” When filling out applications, type your surname as it appears on your passport, travel or identity document. Do not use initials.

Do Indians put their last names first?

In India, surnames are placed as last names or before first names, which often denote: village of origin, caste, clan, office of authority their ancestors held, or trades of their ancestors.

Do South Indians have last name?

How do I make western editors understand that we, south Indians, do not have a family name? We are simply known by our given names. Many other notable south Indian scholars have also shared this humiliation.

Why do Tamilians not have surnames?

#1 The Reason. Caste based surnames slowly started becoming popular in 20th century. Their dire need to follow the pan-Indian culture probably resulted in surnames like – Iyer, Iyengar, Thevar, Pillai, Chettiyar, Mudhaliyar, Nadar, Moopanar etc. And therefore, their are tons of Tamilians without a surname.

Is initials your name and surname?

Generally, you use the first letter of your first and the first letter of your last name as your initials, but you can also include the first letter of your middle name or maiden name, or more than one letter from one of the names (e.g. someone with the last name DiAmico using both D and A).

What does initials surname mean?

The first letter of your name is your initial. Initial is something that occurs first or at the beginning. If someone asks you to initial a form, they’re asking you to sign by writing your initials on it. If your name is Inna Instant, you would write I.I., and you’d probably write it really quick!

Is last name surname in India?

No matter what deviations people have sought however, the basic structure — of first name, last name — has largely continued to withstand the test of time. Except in many parts of India. Many Indians don’t have a surname at all and are known only by one name (Dharmendra, Pran).

Is last name the surname?

In the Anglophonic world, a surname is commonly referred to as the last name because it is usually placed at the end of a person’s full name, after any given name.

Can surname be initial in passport?

Do South Indians have surnames or not?

For rest of South Indians (Kannadigas, Malayalees and Tamils) : They ‘mostly’ (some names have either family name or surnames or both) don’t have surname or family name. Father’s name becomes surname. Examples of exceptions to this: Here family name is Pinarayi, given name: Vijayan, no surname.

How do I abbreviate my father’s name in South India?

Generally in South India we have an initial for every name that stands for our Father’s name. When applying for a PAN card or Passport we need to abbreviate the initial as our last name. I am an South Indian and have a Passport and PAN card and Pattabhiraman in my name is my Father’s name.

What if I don’t have a last name in India?

Most Indians have a last name if not a family name. If you don’t have a family name, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a last name. Your last name can be your father’s first name, grandfather’s first name, ancestor’s name, brithplace, etc. Surname section will be left blank in the passport.

What is the difference between surname and gotra in South India?

In South India, the surname and the gotra are completely two different concepts. The families having the same surname may not always belong to the same gotra.