Friday, May 30, 2008
Family name etymology
In most parts of North India, you'll come across some interesting family names which have roots dating back to their first ancestors' professions, such as Screwvala, which literally means screw vendor. However, back down in South India, I was content with the fact that our names didn't mean much; or at least that's what I thought until earlier this week, when I stumbled across my family name's etymology.
Abu Dujaanah said
Well you can't exactly consider this as an etymology...judging from the fact that you are an ethnic Indian, your ancestors probably embraced Christianity under the influence of Portuguese missionaries who thereby "assigned" names to them regardless of their profession...You could've ended up as a DeCosta or Xavier regardless of your ancestors' profession. And unless you're aware of the particular ancestor who did get baptized and his/her roots, your family's etymology is lost forever.
