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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Indian (northern and southern states) : Hindu name from Sanskrit prasāda ‘favor’, ‘grace’, ‘offering’. In the northern states, it probably evolved into a family name from use as the final element in a compound personal name such as Deviprasad, meaning ‘gift of the god Hari’, Jagannathprasad ‘gift from the lord of the world (i.e. Shiva)’. In South India it is used only as a male given name, but has come to be used as a family name in the U.S. among people from South India.

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