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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Indian (southern states) : Hindu name, from a personal name based on the name of a hill in Andhra Pradesh, where there is a well-known temple of Vishnu. It is from Sanskrit šẹsādri ‘Shesha’s hill’ (from šẹsa ‘Shesha, the king of serpents’ + adri ‘hill’). This is found only as a male given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name in the U.S. among South Indians.

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