Family name origins & meanings
- Indian (southern states) : Hindu name from Sanskrit šrīdhara ‘possessor of Lakshmi’ or ‘possessor of good fortune’, from šrī, a byname of Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu, also meaning ‘good fortune’ + dhara ‘holding’, ‘possessing’. It is an epithet of Vishnu. In South India it is used only as a male given name, but it has come to be used as a family name in the U.S. among people from South India.