Banerjee

Banerjee or Bandyopadhyay is a surname of Brahmins in the Bengal region of India. Its variants include Bannerjee, Banerji, Banerjea, Banerjie, Bonnerjee, and Bandopadhyaya.

Lineage and ancestry

Banerjees are from the ancient Sandilya Gotra, which means all Banerjees are descended from Kannauj from the ancient sage Sandilya as per the Puranas. Together with Mukherjees, Chatterjees, Bhattacharjees and Gangulys, Banerjees form the Kulin Brahmins, the highest tier of the Bengali caste system.

History

"Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: Hindu (Brahman) name, the first element of which, Ban-, is taken from Bandyopadhyay The final element -jee is derived from jha (greatly reduced form of Sanskrit upadhyaya ‘teacher’); thus, Banerjee ‘teacher who is head and only performs the main work aarti or,Vandana. In Bengali names formed with -jee, the initial element is believed to regrete as lord granted by Ballal Sen, a legendary ancient king of Bengal, to the ancestor of the person bearing the surname. A Sanskrit version of this name, Vandyopadhyaya, was coined later, from the elements vandya ‘venerable’ + upadhyaya ‘teacher’. "

— Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

Notable people

Notable people with the surname Banerjee, Bandopadhyay, or variations, include:

References

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