グプタを笑うべきか、笑わぬべきか

不思議の国のグプタ―飛行機は、今日も遅れる (2013/04/10) ヒロ前田、清涼院流水 他 商品詳細を見る

自分の会社はインドともやり取りがあるのですが、来月出る新刊のおかげか、昨日はGuptaさんがいるメールをみかけました（笑）

Yahoo IndiaのAnswersで以下のやり取りがありました。北部インドの姓としてよくあるものと説明されていますね。

What are the most common Indian surnames (last names)?
FYI, I'm an American. The first family from India I met had the surname "Gupta." Since then, I've met a lot of Guptas, several Chopras and quite a few Ganeshes.

I've read the Wikipedia entry for Indian names (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_name… so there's no need to cite it or explain to me how surnames are formed, used or not used.

What I'm wondering about is what that article doesn't explain: The prevalence (or lack) of surnames (last names) in India, which are most common, and [if possible] the meanings of the most common surnames, if appropriate.

Thanks in advance! I always pick a best answer, so this is a sure 10 points for the person with the best answer.

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Common Northern India Surnames: (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab,etc)
Sharma
Verma
Gupta
Malhotra
Bhatnagar
Saxena
Kapoor, Kapur
Singh
Mehra
Chopra
Sarin
Malik

ウィキペディアでがGuptaはcommon surname of Indian originとあります。

（ウィキペディア）
Gupta
Gupta /ˈɡuːptə/ (Devanagari: गुप्ता) is a common surname of Indian origin.
According to some academicians, the name Gupta is derived from Sanskrit goptri, meaning military governor.[1] According to prominent historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname Gupta was adopted by several different communities in northern and eastern India at different times.[2]

Indian nameという項目ではベンガルのヒンドゥー系の姓として紹介されています。

Indian name
Bengali names
Bengali Hindu names:
Bengali Hindu names have the following format: given name, middle name, family name. In casual conversation, people may omit middle names. The middle name is not the father's name. There are no patronymics.

Kayastha surnames include Das, Sen, Ghosh, Dey, Bose, Dutta, Mitra etc. Brahmin surnames include Goswami, Ganguly, Chatterjee, Mukherjee, Banerjee etc. A Brahmin name is often the name of the clan or gotra, but can be an honorific, such as Chakravarti or Bhattacharya.

Sometimes honorifics are used with the family name. However, the family name may be dropped completely as well. Some honorifics are Purkayastha, Chaudhuri, Ray Chaudhuri, Paul, Balan, Bose, and Dutta.

Other Bengali names include Garai, Makur, Bhuinya, Chanda, Deb, Deb-Nath, Deb-Rai, Malakar, Nath, Guha, Guha-Thakurta, Gupta, Das-Gupta, Sen-Gupta, Sharma, Sil/Shil/Sheel, Shil-Sharma, Das-Sharma, Deb-Sharma, Das-Munshi, Munshi, Dewanji, Munshiji, Kannungo/Qannungoh, Mahalanobis, Kundu, Kar, Purakayastha/Purkait, etc.

アメリカで活躍されているGuptaさんもたくさんいることですから、Guptaと聞いて変な名前と思っている（まあ自分ですが（笑））のは、グローバルにいえば田舎もんなんですねえ（苦笑）日本だと田中、渡辺あたりの姓の人を笑っている感じ何でしょうか。もちろん、この本のお陰で「インド人の姓」に意識がいくようになったのですからむしろ感謝すべきですね。