names
Does anybody know the meaning of the Indian surnames Chennapragada and Velagapudi? How common are they in India and in the United States?
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These are Brahmin surnames of Andhra Pradesh, I think it likely that they are not common in India, and certainly not common in the US.
I think that the majority of Indians in the US would be tertiary migrants - by which I mean, first India to East Africa, second East Africa to the UK or Canada (as refugees), thence to the US. Most British-Indians (i.e., mainly Hindu) are of Gujerati origin, perhaps as many as 75% of the total. The rest are mainly North Indian. I'm guessing North Americans of South Asian background will be of similar origin.
If you look here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_names
you will find listed the commoner surnames in the various Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh.
As for the meaning, I have heard that Pragada, also Brahmin of Andhra Pradesh, is from a place-name. So perhaps Chennapragada is too.
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