Pandey

Pandey or Pande (Dev. unicode|पाण्डेय unicode|pāṇḍeya; also unicode|पाण्डे unicode|pāṇḍey) is a surname found primarily among the Brahmin caste communities of India and Nepal.

Derivation

It is most likely that it is derived from the Sanskrit word "unicode|paṇḍita" (unicode|पण्डित), which refers to a 'learned man' or 'scholar'. The sanskrit word Panditya means "Expertise"

Folk Etymology

The popular belief is that those Brahmin families who specialized in all 4 Vedas came to be known as Chaturvedi ("chatur" means 4 in Sanskrit), those who specialized in 3 Vedas came to be known as Trivedi or Tripathi ("tri-" meaning 3 in Sanskrit), while Dwivedi specialized in 2 Vedas ("dwi-" meaning 2). Those who only studied the Veda but did not specialize in them came to be known as Pathak, i.e. "the reader". Those who specialized in Upanishads were known as Upadhyaya.

The name Pandey (meaning pundit), Shukla (meaning white), and Mishra (meaning mixed knowledge of Vedas and Puranas) indicated Brahmins who specialized in all Vedas plus Puranas in Northern Indian states.

Distribution

The majority of people with the surname Pandey reside in the North Indian states of Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and western districts of Nepal (Gulmi, etc.). The surname is also found in states such as Jharkhand.

It can be found outside of India in Nepal, Guyana, Fiji, Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago.

Social Groups

The surname is found predominantly among the Sakaldwipi Brahmin, Kanyakubja, Bhumihar Brahmin, Sarayuparina and other Brahmin communities.

imilar Names

The surname Pandey is similar to the surname "Pande" (unicode|पाण्डे unicode|pāṇḍe), which is used in Gujarat, North India and as well as in Nepal. In Maharashtra, several Brahmin families have names ending in "-pande", such as "Deshpande".Panday or Ponday surname is used by some modern Brahmins who fled to Madras during the 1857 Mutiny . It is distinct from the surname "Panday", which is also used by various social groups.