समाज में नहीं था सरनेम लगाने का रिवाज! कब और किसने शुरू की यह परंपरा? पिता और पति का उपनाम क्यों लगाती हैं महिलाएं?

Bollywood’s famous actress Alia Bhatt told in the trailer of ‘The Great Indian Kapil Sharma Show’ season 2 that she has added Kapoor to her name after marriage. She had come to the show for the promotion of her new film ‘Jigra’. She introduced herself as Alia Bhatt Kapoor on the show. It is the power of the surname that makes a person different from others. Perhaps that is why surnames like Bachchan, Kapoor, Bhatt, Khan in Bollywood do not need any name. The game of surname is thousands of years old.

Did the tradition of surnames start in China?
Surname is also called last name and family name. It tells the history of a person’s ancestors. Written by Li Jingyu ‘The 100 Family Surnames’ According to the book of names, the tradition of surnames started in China. About 4,022 years ago, the Chinese king Fu Shi started adding surnames to people’s names for census purposes.

Story of father’s surname
When the trend of surnames started in China, people started using their father’s surname. In Arab countries, boys’ names started being prefixed with Iban, which means ‘son of’. Apart from the father’s name, Al also started being prefixed with every boy’s name. Al means the. In English, this word is used to express respect. The trend of surnames in England started in 1806. Actually, in 1066, England was attacked by the Emperor of Normandy of France. After his occupation, surnames started being used to identify people separately. Here, instead of the father’s surname, surnames were used according to the village. Mostly, only landowners used surnames. The people of Normandy used to use the name of their village in France before saying ‘the’.

There was no custom of surname in India
Professor of History at Delhi University Amarjeev Lochan It is said that there was no practice of using surnames in India. Only names were found in ancient India. But in the early medieval period, there is evidence of castes and races in Indian society. forebears.io According to the website (forebears.io) there are 3955697 surnames in India. Whereas, Ancestry.com According to a survey, the most number of people using the surname ‘Devi’ in India is 70362196. After this, 34,837,930 people use the surname ‘Singh’ and 31,111,143 people use the surname ‘Kumar’.

Why do women change their surname after marriage?
In India, women often use their husband’s surname after marriage. There is no rule or law for this. This is the result of patriarchy. Women were never given an independent identity in society. There was always an attempt to tie women to their father first and to their husband after marriage. This thinking became a tradition in the society. But now times are changing. betterhalf A matrimony website named conducted a survey in which 92% Indians agreed that it is not necessary for girls to take their husband’s surname after marriage.

Girls also use their mother’s surname
If we look at our religious texts, we will find that children were called by their mother’s name, such as Yashoda’s Nandlala, Anjani’s son Hanuman, Kunti’s son Karna. Similarly, in some countries of the world, the mother’s surname is added to the children’s name. Brazil is one of them. Whereas, in some European countries, both the mother and father’s surname is used. These include Spain, Portugal and France.

In India, a child is free to use the surname of either his or her mother or father (Image-Canva)

Mother’s surname is also dominant in Bollywood
Many Bollywood celebrities have broken the tradition of using their father’s surname. They use their mother’s surname. Aamir Khan’s nephew Imran Khan’s father’s name is Anil Patel and mother’s name is Nusrat Khan. After his parents got divorced, he added his mother’s surname to his name. Mallika Sherawat also added her mother Santosh Sherawat’s surname. Actually, when she debuted in Bollywood, her father was angry with her. Due to this, Mallika removed her father’s surname Lamba from her name. Dilip Kumar’s wife Saira Banu also used her mother’s surname. At the same time, famous filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has added his mother’s name to his name because he loves her very much.

nickname as per work
Like England, surnames in India were kept according to work. For example, in England, the surname Walker came from those who worked with wool. The surname Lister was of those who did dyeing work, the surname Kitchener was of those who did the work of a weaver. Similarly, in India, people of the society were divided into 4 castes according to their work. Those who taught children and did religious work were called Brahmins. Those who fought were called Kshatriyas, landlords and traders were called Vaishyas and servants were called Shudras. Their surnames were kept on this basis.

Tags: Aaliya Bhatt, China, History of India