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Family name origins & meanings
- Indian (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka) : Hindu and Parsi name which goes back to an official title meaning ‘village headman’, pə̣tel in Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada (where it is pạtēla). It comes ultimately from Sanskrit pạṭtakila ‘tenant of royal land’. Among the Indians in the U.S, it is the most common family name.