Shenoy

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Surname list

title: "Shenoy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["surnames-of-indian-origin", "society-of-karnataka", "society-of-goa", "konkani-language-surnames", "social-groups-of-goa"] description: "Surname list" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenoy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Surname list ::

Shenoy is a Konkani surname from coastal Karnataka and Goa in India. | url = http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=shenoy | title = Shenoy Name Meaning | publisher = Oxford University Press | work = Dictionary of American Family Names | year = 2013 It is found among Hindus of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community following Smartha Sampradaya of Kavale Matha or Madhva Sampradaya of either Gokarna Matha or Kashi Matha. | last = Vijay | first = Pandtit Alahar | author-mask = Pandtit Alahar Vijay | title = Pronology – The Dynamic Name Science | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5pYpCy24QC | publisher = Sura Books | publication-place = Chennai | isbn = 8174787356

The name is also in use among some Brahmin Christian families of South Canara who trace their ancestry to the Goud Saraswat Brahmins of Karnataka, Kerala and Goa.

Etymology

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श्रेणीपति शेणीव्वई शेणय
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There are two theories about the origin of Shenoy or Shenvi.

  1. The Sanskrit word Shrenipati, meaning the leader of the guild, which got converted as Shennivayi in Apabhraṃśa, and later as Shenai or Shenvi in old Konkani.
  2. It is from the Sanskrit word for 96, ṣaṇṇavati (षण्णवति). The significance of the word 96 among Konkanis is that 96 villages formed the core region of Goa. It is said that 96 clans / families of Saraswat Brahmins arrived in Gomantak and settled in one village each. 66 villages were in Sashti region (66 in Sanskrit is ṣaṭ ṣaṣṭi - षट् षष्टि. Sashti became Salcette during the Portuguese rule) and 30 villages were in Tiswadi region.

Background and origins

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/A_Plaque_with_the_name_'Sinai'_outside_of_a_commercial_establishment,_Panaji,_Goa,_India.jpg" caption="Plaque outside a commercial establishment, Goa, India"] ::

The Shenoys were generally involved in administration of the city and temples. The word 'Shenoy' itself means a writer or accountant. | last = Maffei | first= Angelus Francis Xavier | author-mask = Angelus Francis Xavier Maffei | url = https://archive.org/details/akonkanigrammar00maffgoog | title = A Konkani Grammar | year = 2003 | publisher = Asian Educational Services | isbn = 9788120600874 | oclc = 14242653 | publication-place = Mangalore GSBs were administrators of the temples. The word 'Shenoy' is also interchangeable with its counterpart 'Shanbhag'.

The Saraswats migrated from Goa during the Muslim and Christian conquests during 1600, and carried their surname with them. Shenoy is derived from old Konkani word šeṇəy. Thus the word 'शणै' is transliterated in Latin script as Shenoy in Karnataka and as Xennai, Shenoi, Shenai, Shenvi or even Sinai in Goa. Xennoi is less commonly used in the erstwhile Portuguese Goa and Damaon, but nowadays it has given way to Xennai today. | last = SarDessai | first = ManoharRai | author-mask = ManoharRai SarDessai | year = 2000 | title = A History of Konkani Literature (From 1500 to 1992) | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1YILeUD_oZUC | publication-place = Pune | publisher = Sahitya Akademi | page = 24 | isbn = 8172016646

It was common in Goa for Shenoys and other Saraswats to add the name of their ancestral village or title after Shenoy to denote their origin. | last = Pinto | first = Pius Fidelis | author-mask = Pius Fidelis Pinto | year = 1999 | title =History of Christians in coastal Karnataka, 1500–1763 A.D. | publication-place = Mangalore | publisher = Samanvaya Prakashan

Notable people

References

References

  1. ''Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians'', Alan Machado Prabhu, I.J.A. Publications, 1999, p. 137
  2. "I am a GSB – GSB Sabha Mumbai".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

surnames-of-indian-originsociety-of-karnatakasociety-of-goakonkani-language-surnamessocial-groups-of-goa