Surname:Singh

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Singh is a common title, middle name, or surname used in South Asia, mainly in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, used originally by the Hindu Kshatriyas (warriors and kings). It is derived from the Sanskrit word सिंह Sinha meaning Lion. Apart from Rajput clans, it is also used by Sikhs, Marathas, Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka and Newa people of Nepal.

By the sixteenth century, "Singh" had become a popular surname among the Rajput warriors. It was adopted into Sikhism in 1699 as per the instructions of Guru Gobind Singh; the use of Singh as a last name is mandatory for all baptized male Sikhs since 1699, regardless of their geographical or cultural binding. Some Brahmins like Bhumihar Brahmins (see Kingdom of Kashi and Royal House of Benares) and Maithil Brahmins (see History of Mithila) also use this surname. The general editor of the book "People of India (Bihar and Jharkhand)", published by Anthropological Survey of India (ASI), and noted academician-bureaucrat, the late Kumar Suresh Singh, said that the surname "Singh", which used to denote connection with power and authority, was used in Bihar by Brahmin zamindars, like the surname "Khan" in Muslims. "Singh" has gradually emerged as a hereditary title to be used as a middle name, highlighting connections to a warrior status or occupation. The surname has also been widely adopted by other groups of India like Yadavs and Jats. However, this is not an exclusive usage, and many Hindu groups including Scheduled Castes and Vaishya have adopted this title without any significant warrior status or ties.

Sources

Manual translation of Wikipedia sources into WeRelate sources

• The matrifocal family: power, pluralism, and politics (1996), Raymond Thomas Smith.
• The yoga tradition : its history, literature, philosophy, and practice (1998), Georg Feuerstein.