Category Archives: Names, Surnames, more

Names, Surnames & More

FOR ALL CONCERENED, I HAVE CREATED 3 FREE WEBSITES, USEFUL TO THE COMMUNITY.

for PARSI IRANI NAMES AND SURNAMES :- Click Link Below
http://parsiiranisurnames.tripod.com
for PARSI CHILD NAMES RASHI WISE:- Click Link Below
https://parsichildnames.wixsite.com/namesrashiwise

for Noshir Daboo’s Articles in Gujarati:- Click Link Below https://noshirdabooarticles.wixsite.com/articlesingujarati

All 3 Websites can be viewed by anyone whosoever wants to by clicking / pasting the Links.

Burjor M Daboo

Parsi Surnames – a humorous look

While most surnames in India reflect caste and lineage, the Parsis had a delightfully modern streak — having landed without caste, history and context, they created identities through professions and urban streets.

Our family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) from Rawalpindi in 1947. We came as refugees but the family soon settled and by 1953 my father had restarted playing golf at the Willingdon Club. I was eight years old and would walk 18 holes with him every Saturday and Sunday.

The three Parsi gentlemen who made up his regular four-ball were uncles Poonawala, Coorlawala and Colabawala. Very soon they had rechristened my father Pindiwala.

Uncle Colabawala did not live in Colaba but in a penthouse on Malabar Hill. May be his ancestors had lived in Colaba.

I used to spend hours searching the telephone directory to find Parsi surnames and stories around their families.

There was prohibition in Bombay those days. So to get liquor you had to find Mr Dalal, who would introduce you to Mr Daruwala, who in turn would get bottles delivered to your home by Mr Batliwala who would be accompanied by
Mr Sodawaterbottleopenerwalla (the longest Parsi surname I have come across).

Other surnames whose ancestors were in the beverages trade were: Mr Fountainwala, Mr Ginwala, Mr Rumwala, Mr Sodawala and Mr Jaamwala.

We used to have two delightful Siamese kittens in our flat and these were gifted to my mother by her friend Mrs Billimoria. My mother spent hours knitting cardigans for them, with wool she bought from the Unwala family.

My uncle ran the air force canteen in Cotton Green and his partner, yes you guessed it, was Mr Canteenwala. They had this fantastic cook, Mr Bhajiwala.

Their mild and meek manager, Mr Jeejeebhoy, nodded his head and agreed with everything everybody said.

My grandfather was the Sheriff of Bombay. I think the first and only Parsi to hold this position. Being Sheriff it was only natural that he had Mr Bandookwala and Mr Golimarwala as his constant companions.

Grandfather had many Parsi friends who were in politics. There was this squeaky clean khadi-clad Mr Ghandy, and the not so clean Mr Kalaghandy —

My grandfather built Hotel Waldorf on Arthur Bunder Road in Colaba. So for this he naturally used the services of Mr Contactor and Mr Mistry. Yet… He never went to the conservative moneylenders when short of money, but borrowed it from his Parsi friend Mr Readymoney.

Our neighbour and family physician was Dr Adi Doctor — he was only half a doctor. He lived withh his in laws Mr and Mrs Pochkhanawala. My sister swears they ate only poached eggs for breakfast.

I remember going to Dr Doctor’s sister’s wedding. She married one Mr Screwala. What he did for a living, I do not know to this day.

 

–. Cyrus Broacha Comediwalla

How food inspires names of India’s Parsis

food-_92886542_mediaitem92886540

It is no exaggeration to say that Parsis, the Zoroastrians of India, take their food seriously – very seriously.

Love of good food and drink plays a central, oftentimes quirky, role in nearly every aspect of our culture.

When our babies sit upright for the first time, we celebrate by making them sit on top of laddoos (Indian sweet). At Parsi weddings, the clarion call of jamva chaloji (let’s eat!) has a hypnotic appeal.

Weddings are judged almost entirely on the quality of the pulao dal (rice and lentils) and the freshness of the patrani macchi (fish steamed in chutney).

For any other occasion or milestone, we scrupulously avoid fasting, proscribed in our religion as a sin.

Food is etched into our identity, and in many cases it is quite literally written into our names. Indeed, Parsi surnames provide a veritable smorgasbord of edible associations.

One family, with its roots in the western Indian city of Surat, evidently failed spectacularly in the art of cooking and, therefore, earned the surname Vasikusi, which means stinky food.

Other Parsi last names include Boomla, the Gujarati term for the Bombay duck, a slimy fish which has a dedicated fan following in the community, and Gotla, which is a fruit seed.

Parsi

One particularly unusual variant of surnames ends with the suffix khao, suggesting a desire to eat or greediness.

A Papadkhao, therefore, could be a devoted consumer or hoarder of crispy fried papadums.

The existence of Bhajikhaos (vegetable-eater) demonstrates that not all Parsis were raging carnivores.

Curiously, a number of surnames revolve around cucumbers (kakdi): aside from Kakdikhaos, we also find Kakdichors (cucumber thief).

Click Here for the full story

Introduction of Family Names in Iran

The Board of Trustees and Members of the Governing Body

of

THE K R CAMA ORIENTAL INSTITUTE

invite you to a lecture

on

“The Introduction Of Family Names (1918-1924) In Iran

And Its Consequences”

by

Professor Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi

Professor of International Relations and History

Boston University, U S A

at

6 pm on Friday, 18th December 2015

in the Dr Sir J J Modi Memorial Hall of the Institute

136 Bombay Samachar Marg, Opposite Lion Gate, Fort,

Mumbai – 400 023

Mr Muncherji N M Cama

President of the Institute

will preside

Do join us for tea at 5.30 pm

For more details log on to our website: www.krcamaorientalinstitute.org

RSVP 22843893 / 22876593                   E-mail: krcamaoi123@gmail.com

Right of Admission Reserved

Another 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Parsi Surnames

. What the f@#% is a workingbox?

What the f@#% is a workingbox?

The New Indian Express

I don’t think he knows too.

2. Kya baat karte ho, Panday ji?

Kya baat karte ho, Panday ji?

Dinodia / © DINODIA

Chulbul Panday wasn’t Parsi, but Bai Ruttonbai FD Panday was.

3. Hathi mere sathi

Hathi mere sathi

Jamshed Panthaki

Hathi, Hathidaru, Hathikhanawala, Hathiram. All Parsi surnames.

4. Kya keh rahe ho, miyan?

Kya keh rahe ho, miyan?

Shutterstock

Mulla, Mirza, Khan, Aga are Parsi surnames too.

5. We love our drink. If the Parsi Peg isn’t proof enough, our surnames are.

We love our drink. If the Parsi Peg isn't proof enough, our surnames are.

Daruwalla. Toddywala. Rumwalla. Ginwalla? That’s related to cotton-ginning, not the drink.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/aknave/another-5-things-you-didnt-know-about-parsi-surna-1dm9u

5 More Things You Didn’t Know About Parsi Surnames

No, Titwala is a suburban railway station on the Mumbai Central line. Not the surname of a chubby Parsi guy.

1. We’ve made homes in distant far-off places (and surnames out of them)

We've made homes in distant far-off places (and surnames out of them)

You can see how far and wide we’ve traveled and settled from our surnames: Bengal (Bengallee), Kerala (Malabari), Burma (Rangoonwala), Yemen (Adenwala) and China (Chinoy)

2. Gujarati was our mother-tongue. Now it’s English.

Gujarati was our mother-tongue. Now it's English.

So Mr. Vaid became Mr. Doctor, Mr. Vakeel became Mr. Lawyer, Mr. Mistry became Mr. Contractor, and Messrs. Daruwala, Batliwala, Motiwala et al became Messrs. Merchant, Merchant, Merchant & Merchant.

3. Phir bhi, dil hai Hindustani

Phir bhi, dil hai Hindustani

Via Pinterest

Some of us wear our Indian-ness on our sleeve. Or in our names. We’ve also adopted distinctly Indian names. Like Tarachand, Cassinath (Kashinath) and Govekar

4. We’re all related

We're all related

Lala Deen Dayal

Mama. Bhanja. Chacha. Kaka. They are Parsi surnames too.

5. Readymoney

Readymoney

Wikipedia

That’s a Parsi surname. I swear!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/aknave/5-more-things-you-didnt-know-about-parsi-surnames-1dm9u

A delightfully modern streak of ….Parsi Names

This appeared in The Tribune, Chandigarh,  the 6th of Jan 2010.

 

OK TATA bye-bye

by Pushi Chowdhry

WHILE most surnames in India reflect caste and lineage, the Parsis had a delightfully modern streak — having landed without caste, history and context, they created identities through professions and urban streets.

Our family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) from Rawalpindi in 1947. We came as refugees but the family soon settled and by 1953 my father had restarted playing golf at the Willingdon Club. I was eight years old and would walk 18 holes with him every Saturday and Sunday. The three Parsi gentlemen who made up his regular four-ball were “uncles” Poonawala, Coorlawala and Colabawala. Very soon they had rechristened my father Pindiwala.

Uncle Colabawala did not live in Colaba but in a penthouse on Malabar Hill. May be his ancestors had lived in Colaba. I used to spend hours searching the telephone directory to find Parsi surnames and building up stories around their families.

There was prohibition in Bombay those days. So to get liquor you had to find Mr Dalal, who would introduce you to Mr Daruwala, who in turn would get bottles delivered to your home by Mr Batliwala who would be accompanied by Mr Sodawaterbottleopenerwalla (the longest Parsi surname I have come across).

Other surnames whose ancestors were in the beverages trade were Mr Fountainwala, Mr Ginwala, Mr Rumwala, Mr Sodawala and Mr Jhunjhunwala.

We used to have two delightful Siamese kittens in our flat and these were gifted to my mother by her friend Mrs Billimoria. My mother spent hours knitting cardigans for them, with wool she bought from the Unwala family.

My uncle ran the air force canteen in Cotton Green and his partner, yes you guessed it, was Mr Canteenwala. They had this fantastic cook, Mr Bhajiwala. Their mild and meek manager, Mr Jeejeebhoy, nodded his head and agreed with everything everybody said.

My grandfather was the Sheriff of Bombay. I think the first and only Sikh to hold this position. Being Sheriff it was only natural that he had Mr Bandookwala and Mr Golimarwala as his constant companions.

Grandfather had many Parsi friends who were in politics. There was this squeaky clean khadi-clad Mr Ghandy, and the not so clean Mr Kalaghandy — who was invariably being hounded by Mr Kotwal. But he never left home without his “friends” Mr Barrister, Mr Vakil, Mr Lawyer and their munshi Mr Mehnty.

My grandfather built Hotel Waldorf on Arthur Bunder Road in Colaba. So for this he naturally used the services of Mr Contactor and Mr Mistry. He never went to the “native” moneylenders when short of money, but borrowed it from his Parsi friend Mr Readymoney.

Our neighbour and family physician was Dr Adi Doctor — he was only half a doctor. He lived with his in laws Mr and Mrs Pochkhanawala. My sister swears they ate only poached eggs for breakfast.

I remember going to Dr Doctor’s sister’s wedding. She married Mr Screwala. What he did for a living, I do not know to this day. If you are in Mumbai maybe you can track him down in the yellow or pink pages.

Jokes apart, there is a lesson for all of us here: imagine if we could christen our politicians through democratic vote: Jinnahwalla, Nikarwalla, Icequeen, Motawalla! It would really be able to keep everyone in check, where individuals and media didn’t only control your public profile but also your public identity.

The Parsis have taught us that if you take serious interest in satire, you can change the world! My name today is Comedymanifestowalla!

 

Courtesy : Rusi Sorabji

Parsi Surnames

I Have Made an Extant list of PARSI IRANI SURNAMES, about 2482 & Counting, ALPHABETICAL as Well as GROUPWISE, To make it more interesting, now  I have
made it along with some Comments on their ORIGIN.

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,From Zaiwala to Madraswala to Adenwala To Mombassawala, adopted from the place they lived. They Were Masters at the Trade done, from Roowala, to Workingboxwala to Wadiwala , to Ghaaswala 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 (Village Accountant), Munshi (Secreatary), Daftari (RecordKeeper), Etc. Certain Traits also became surnames Like Mari NI Goon, Bhoot, Waugh, Rupala Etc.

First printed in PARSIANA of March-1997 & in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003 & 2005 Online Published On 23rd February 2008 @ Zoroastrians.net, in category ~ NAMES SURNAMES & MORE ~ Copy the Link Given to View the Surnames.

http://zoroastrians.net/2008/02/23/parsi-irani-surnames/

~ OR To The Alternate Site
Below: ~

http://parsiiranisurnames.tripod.com/

Parsees have Generally adopted Surnames From:~
1) TRADE / PROFFESSION ~ Vakil, Doctor, Wadia, Ghaaswala, Pithawala,  Engineer, Major, Subedar etc
2) PLACES Or GEOGRAPHICAL ~ SANJAN-Sanjana, SURAT-Surti, KHAMBHAT-Khambata, etc.
3) POSITION & TITLES ~ Desai, Munshi, Munsaf, Khansaheb, Davar, Patel, etc.
4) CHARACTERISTICS / DISCRIPTIVE NAMES ~ Bhoot, Waghmar, GhooKhaoo, Batki, Motigaanwala etc.
5) RELIGIOUS TERMS ~ (Many No longer used) Daadaar, Yatha-Ahu-Vairyo, Dregubyo, Khodayji. etc.
6) GENEOLOGY: (Name+Father’s Name as surname) ~ Dadabhai-NAOROJI, Sam-MANEKSHAH, Homi -DINSHAJI, etc. {Some Double Barrled}:- Meherji+Rana,
Dada+Chanji, Jamasp+Asa, Dady+Seth, etc.
7) EUROPEAN NAMES ~ Devitre, Boyce, Grant, Noble, Forbes, Polson, Nicholson, Morris, Wykes, etc.
8) IRANI ~ Mondegari, Yegatabadi, Yazadi, Felfeli, Khobiyaar, Khodavandi, Yaganegi Most common being, Irani itself.

SOME INTERSTING ORIGINS : –

CHICHGAR :- Maker of Special Wooden Toys. CHICH =Wooden Toy. GAR = To make.
PAAJNIGARA :- One Who Makes a Very Fine Silk Cloth. PAAJ = Very Fine Silk Cloth, GARA = maker.
RAO :- A TITLE. Meant for an Honourable person, A local king type, specially in Maharashtra
TATA :- Inherited By Jamshedji , whose ancestor was Very Hot Tempered, Like a Tartar. A more appropriate Coinage – could be from Gujarati RAATA -TAATA, Originally RAATAD = Red faced (with Anger like a Tartar).
DOKAWALA :- Originally Taken From DOKA-WADI-WALA Shortened to DOKAWALA. Named from a Maidan near the GOTI ADRAN In Surat,- originally Known as DOKA-WADI, as There was a fierce Battle between the Marathas & the Moghuls & as many Heads had rolled there, – so it was Known as DOKA = HEADS. WADI = Place, Area. The Palia Family who owned the land Adopted the Surname DOKA WADI WALA..
PANDEY / PANDAY:- One who is a Learned Man. From Sanskrit PANDITYA=Learned Man. Bhikhaji Behramji (Of Bhikha Behram Well) -while coming to Mumbai from Bharuch, was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. He was kept in a ‘PANDERGADH’ Fort Near ‘Valsad.- Popularly known as ‘PANDAY’ Fort. Thus This Surname stuck as PANDAY.

Your Comments and Criticism is welcome.
Burjor M. Daboo
Ahmedabad
burkhurdar@gmail.com

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