Info on Tamil Surname
WebLizard
Hi,
I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
Any help will be greatly appreciated !
Natarajan V Nellicherry
hi there,
to my knowledge, more erudite scholars may prove me wrong, there
are no surnames in tamilnadu. there is only one name, which is
used as a first name and the last/sur name. most of the tamilians,
to conform to the western tradition of first name and last name,
have taken their fathers name as their first/last name, depending
on how the passport application was filled.
fyi, somasundram is the name of the presiding deity of the madurai
temple, consorted by meenakshi.
all flames to ng :
in (south) india, surnames are casteist ???
_____________________________________________________
Natarajan V Nellicherry
Mayo Foundation
(507) 281- 4548 (H)
(507) 266 - 5022 (W)
(507) 284 - 1927 (Fax)
nellicherr...@mayo.edu (E-mail)
_____________________________________________________
Inspite of my best efforts the contents herein may be
incorrect, and should be used at readers own risk.
_____________________________________________________
WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> wrote in article
<3337F6...@anat.uct.ac.za>...
Meenaradchagan Vishnu
In article <3337F6...@anat.uct.ac.za>,
WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
>
>Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
>'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
>
>My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
>
>Any help will be greatly appreciated !
The Tamils of India and Sri Lanka do not use a surname (family name).
Rather, each Tamil is given a single name and they attach their
father's (husband's) name at the front.
The Tamils who went to South Africa, when forced to select a surname,
sometimes chose their caste names as their surnames and sometimes used
the ancestors given name as the surname. For example, the names
padaiyaacchi, Naikker, Naidu, Muthali are all caste name.
Since Somasundaram is a Sankritic name (soma is a drink used in Vedic
rituals and sundaram means handsome/beauty), your ancestors may be from
one of those so called upper castes like the Velalar caste (lit.
farmers).
Meenan Vishnu
s. thamarai selvan
In article D...@anat.uct.ac.za, WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> () writes:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
>
> Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
> 'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
>
> My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated !
Hi,
Somasundaram is not a surname. It is a name. If a Tamilian tells it is his surname
means it should be his father's name. Normally the Tamilians use their father's
name attached with their name like me Siddheswaran Thamarai selvan where Siddheswaran
is my father's name and Thamarai selvan ( The son of Lotus ) is my name.
Soma - means moon. Sundaram means beauty. The Shiva is known as Somasundaram
because he wears moon and look beatiful. So Somasundaram may be one of your ancestors
name. Normally the people near Madurai area keep thisname because there the Shiva
is known as Sundharesan. ( Sundhar - Ishan ). But the name is common to all over
Tamil nadu. I have two friends whose names are Somasundaram.
---
s. Thamarai Selvan
Paul E Jeganathna
In article <E7Lxq...@novice.uwaterloo.ca>, mvi...@bbcr.uwaterloo.ca (Meenaradchagan Vishnu) says:
>
>In article <3337F6...@anat.uct.ac.za>,
>WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> wrote:
>>
>>I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
>>
>>Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
>>'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
>>
>>My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
>>
>>Any help will be greatly appreciated !
>
>Rather, each Tamil is given a single name and they attach their
>father's (husband's) name at the front.
>
There is custom among some Tamils to attach the name or the first letter
of the name of town or village their ancesters hailed from along with
the first letter of their father's name.
nanthi
s. thamarai selvan wrote:
>
> In article D...@anat.uct.ac.za, WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> () writes:
> >
> > I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
> >
> > Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
> > 'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
> >
> > My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
> >
> > Any help will be greatly appreciated !
>
>
> Somasundaram is not a surname. It is a name. If a Tamilian tells it is his surname
> means it should be his father's name. Normally the Tamilians use their father's
> name attached with their name like me Siddheswaran Thamarai selvan where Siddheswaran
> is my father's name and Thamarai selvan ( The son of Lotus ) is my name.
>
> Soma - means moon. Sundaram means beauty. The Shiva is known as Somasundaram
> because he wears moon and look beatiful. So Somasundaram may be one of your ancestors
> name. Normally the people near Madurai area keep thisname because there the Shiva
> is known as Sundharesan. ( Sundhar - Ishan ). But the name is common to all over
> Tamil nadu. I have two friends whose names are Somasundaram.
>
> ---
> s. Thamarai Selvan
I doubt the meaning for SOMA.. Soma = Eashwaran, not moon.
Mr. Somasundaram did not asked the meaning of his name...
WebLizard
>WebLizard wrote:
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated !
Thanks everyone for the information. I am interested in the meaning of
the name - as I unfortunately cannot speak any of the Indian languages
yet - except for a few words. Some additional info may be useful to this
thread.
Somasundram has been used as a surname in South Africa for over a
hundred
years. This may be due to following the British naming system, or
it may have been to maintain a link with the family temple or village
back in India . As a surname here, very few people hold it and they are
all closely related.The original immigrant to SA in the late 1800's was
a school teacher (I think).
Best Regards,
Lester
sankarlal
nanthi wrote:
>
> s. thamarai selvan wrote:
> >
> > In article D...@anat.uct.ac.za, WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> () writes:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
> > >
> > > Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
> > > 'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
> > >
> > > My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
> > >
> >
> >
> > Somasundaram is not a surname. It is a name. If a Tamilian tells it is his surname
> > means it should be his father's name. Normally the Tamilians use their father's
> > name attached with their name like me Siddheswaran Thamarai selvan where Siddheswaran
> > is my father's name and Thamarai selvan ( The son of Lotus ) is my name.
> >
> > Soma - means moon. Sundaram means beauty. The Shiva is known as Somasundaram
> > because he wears moon and look beatiful. So Somasundaram may be one of your ancestors
> > name. Normally the people near Madurai area keep thisname because there the Shiva
> > is known as Sundharesan. ( Sundhar - Ishan ). But the name is common to all over
> > Tamil nadu. I have two friends whose names are Somasundaram.
> >
> > ---
> > s. Thamarai Selvan
> --------------------------------------------
>
> I doubt the meaning for SOMA.. Soma = Eashwaran, not moon.
>
> Mr. Somasundaram did not asked the meaning of his name...
Nanthi is paid by SriLankan Gove to write these nonsense. Therefore,
please ignore his articles or replies. Moreover, he is a fat man.
Bye for now
Sankarlal
Balakrishnan
In article <E7Lxq...@novice.uwaterloo.ca> mvi...@bbcr.uwaterloo.ca (Meenaradchagan Vishnu) writes:
>In article <3337F6...@anat.uct.ac.za>,
>WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> wrote:
>>
>>I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
>>
>>Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
>>'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
>>
>>My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
>>
>>Any help will be greatly appreciated !
>
>Rather, each Tamil is given a single name and they attach their
>father's (husband's) name at the front.
>
>sometimes chose their caste names as their surnames and sometimes used
>the ancestors given name as the surname. For example, the names
>padaiyaacchi, Naikker, Naidu, Muthali are all caste name.
>
>Since Somasundaram is a Sankritic name (soma is a drink used in Vedic
>rituals and sundaram means handsome/beauty), your ancestors may be from
>one of those so called upper castes like the Velalar caste (lit.
>farmers).
>
>Meenan Vishnu
Soma refers to the moon. The somarasam which you refer to is what they
call in English moondrops.
Balakrishnan
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BALAKRISHNAN VISWANATHAN
vis...@omc.lan.mcgill.ca
bs...@musicb.mcgill.ca
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarve janaah sukhino bhavantu
nanthi
sankarlal wrote:
>
> nanthi wrote:
> >
> > s. thamarai selvan wrote:
> > >
> > > In article D...@anat.uct.ac.za, WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> () writes:
> > > >
> > > > I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
> > > >
> > > > Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
> > > > 'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
> > > >
> > > > My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
> > > >
> > > > Any help will be greatly appreciated !
> > >
> > >
> > > Somasundaram is not a surname. It is a name. If a Tamilian tells it is his surname
> > > means it should be his father's name. Normally the Tamilians use their father's
> > > name attached with their name like me Siddheswaran Thamarai selvan where Siddheswaran
> > > is my father's name and Thamarai selvan ( The son of Lotus ) is my name.
> > >
> > > Soma - means moon. Sundaram means beauty. The Shiva is known as Somasundaram
> > > because he wears moon and look beatiful. So Somasundaram may be one of your ancestors
> > > name. Normally the people near Madurai area keep thisname because there the Shiva
> > > is known as Sundharesan. ( Sundhar - Ishan ). But the name is common to all over
> > > Tamil nadu. I have two friends whose names are Somasundaram.
> > >
> > > ---
> > > s. Thamarai Selvan
> > --------------------------------------------
> >
> > I doubt the meaning for SOMA.. Soma = Eashwaran, not moon.
> >
> > Mr. Somasundaram did not asked the meaning of his name...
> ----------------------------------------------
>
> Nanthi is paid by SriLankan Gove to write these nonsense. Therefore,
> please ignore his articles or replies. Moreover, he is a fat man.
>
> Bye for now
> Sankarlal
Tamil Sakkili has no surname or any name.... his name is Sakkili lal
Balakrishnan
In article <333947...@anat.uct.ac.za> WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> writes:
>>WebLizard wrote:
>>
>> Any help will be greatly appreciated !
>
>the name - as I unfortunately cannot speak any of the Indian languages
>yet - except for a few words. Some additional info may be useful to this
>thread.
>
>Lester
>.
Somasundaram means "he who is as beautiful as the moon".
nanthi
sankarlal wrote:
>
> nanthi wrote:
> >
> > sankarlal wrote:
> > >
> > > nanthi wrote:
> > > >
> > > > s. thamarai selvan wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > In article D...@anat.uct.ac.za, WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> () writes:
> > > > > > Hi,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
> > > > > > 'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
> > > > > >
> > > > > > My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Somasundaram is not a surname. It is a name. If a Tamilian tells it is his surname
> > > > > means it should be his father's name. Normally the Tamilians use their father's
> > > > > name attached with their name like me Siddheswaran Thamarai selvan where Siddheswaran
> > > > > is my father's name and Thamarai selvan ( The son of Lotus ) is my name.
> > > > >
> > > > > Soma - means moon. Sundaram means beauty. The Shiva is known as Somasundaram
> > > > > because he wears moon and look beatiful. So Somasundaram may be one of your ancestors
> > > > > name. Normally the people near Madurai area keep thisname because there the Shiva
> > > > > is known as Sundharesan. ( Sundhar - Ishan ). But the name is common to all over
> > > > > Tamil nadu. I have two friends whose names are Somasundaram.
> > > > >
> > > > > ---
> > > > > s. Thamarai Selvan
> > > > --------------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > > I doubt the meaning for SOMA.. Soma = Eashwaran, not moon.
> > > >
> > > > Mr. Somasundaram did not asked the meaning of his name...
> > > ----------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Nanthi is paid by SriLankan Gove to write these nonsense. Therefore,
> > > please ignore his articles or replies. Moreover, he is a fat man.
> > >
> > > Bye for now
> > > Sankarlal
> > ================================
> >
> > Tamil Sakkili has no surname or any name.... his name is Sakkili lal
>
Balakrishnan
In article <3338B8...@myna.com> nanthi <nan...@myna.com> writes:
>s. thamarai selvan wrote:
>>
>> In article D...@anat.uct.ac.za, WebLizard <lj...@anat.uct.ac.za> () writes:
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
>> >
>> > Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
>> > 'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
>> >
>> > My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
>> >
>> > Any help will be greatly appreciated !
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Somasundaram is not a surname. It is a name. If a Tamilian tells it is his surname
>> means it should be his father's name. Normally the Tamilians use their father's
>> name attached with their name like me Siddheswaran Thamarai selvan where Siddheswaran
>> is my father's name and Thamarai selvan ( The son of Lotus ) is my name.
>>
>> Soma - means moon. Sundaram means beauty. The Shiva is known as Somasundaram
>> because he wears moon and look beatiful. So Somasundaram may be one of your ancestors
>> name. Normally the people near Madurai area keep thisname because there the Shiva
>> is known as Sundharesan. ( Sundhar - Ishan ). But the name is common to all over
>> Tamil nadu. I have two friends whose names are Somasundaram.
>>
>> ---
>> s. Thamarai Selvan
>--------------------------------------------
>
>I doubt the meaning for SOMA.. Soma = Eashwaran, not moon.
>
>Mr. Somasundaram did not asked the meaning of his name...
Isan is the same as Iswaran. Soma is moon, even from the oldest
Vedic books. Somasundaram is 'soma iva sundaram yah sah' or in Tamil
somanai pol sundaram aanavar.
s. thamarai selvan
Hi,
I am true Tamilian living in nature's way. I don't care about dogs barking at
sun. The culture of us will never change. It is very much detarmined.
Just I can pity on them.
Suggest some good mental hospital to Nandhi. ( Yes, I do care for all human beings
in the world.). And finally let all of you know that I am from Salem, belongs to
Tamil Nadu, India.
I just don't want to start any fighting. Thats all. Please keep ignore every things.
Selvan.
P.S: Just because of these things I'll not make a backstep. Don't worry. We had
seen a lot of these guys.
---
s. thamarai selvan ext.
Sankara Narayanan
Paul E Jeganathna wrote:
>
> In article <E7Lxq...@novice.uwaterloo.ca>, mvi...@bbcr.uwaterloo.ca (Meenaradchagan Vishnu) says:
> >
> >>
> >>I'm a South African doing some research on my ancestory.
> >>
> >>Could anyone provide me with information about the Tamil surname
> >>'Somasundram' such as geographical location, meaning ,ect..
> >>
> >>My Somasundram ancestors arrived in South Africa sometime in the 1800's.
> >>
> >>Any help will be greatly appreciated !
<snip>
> >
> >Since Somasundaram is a Sankritic name (soma is a drink used in Vedic
> >rituals and sundaram means handsome/beauty), your ancestors may be from
> >one of those so called upper castes like the Velalar caste (lit.
> >farmers).
> >
> >Meenan Vishnu
Somasundaram is not a caste name. It is the name of Lord Shiva,
specifically
the presiding deity of Madurai, Sundareshvarar. It must have been the
first
name of one of your forefathers, which became a surname at one point of
time.
The meaning given above is not right. There are 2 meanings for this
word.
1, somasundaram - soma + sundram , Soma means moon. sundram is
beautified.
the one who is beautified by moon on his head, ie Shiva
2, sa + uma + sundaram - Uma is the name of Parvati, soma (sa+uma)
means
the one accompanied by Uma. so, somasundaram means the handsome one
accompanied by Uma.
BTW, Mr. Meenan, how did you conclude that if a man has a sanskritic
name
he is of higher caste ??? This is nonsense ...
Around 85%-95% of the so-called 'low-caste' people (or people of nay
caste for that matter) have Common (no point in caling them Sanskrit
anymore) Indian/Hindu names .. in fact names like indhiran, arjunan
etc. are common
ONLY among some low-castes in Tamil Nadu...
-Sankara Narayanan
nanthi
Go for a Tamil film and you will get more Tamil cultural ideas..
RojaV
nanthi wrote:
-----------------
>
> Go for a Tamil film and you will get more Tamil cultural >ideas..
nanthi
Again you talk about shit... Toilet cleaning may be the reason... Any
Tamil bark in the net has " ashit connection".
RojaV
what is it?) connection. I do shit cleaning by sending posts to your
posts. If I am not here, sct will stink.
RojaV