Deshastha Brahmin surnames are derived by adding the suffix kar or e to the village from which the family originally hailed.[1] For example, Akhegaonkar came from the village Akhegaon, Bidkar came from the town of Bid, Jugade came from the village Jugad, Yadwadkar came from Yadwad Nagpurkar comes from the city Nagpur, Virkar came from the village Vira or Veer,[2] the Marathi poet V. V. Shirwadkar, colloquially known as Kusumagraj, came from the town of Shirwad, Dharwadkar from the town of Dharwad, and Bijapurkar from the town of Bijapur in Karnataka.[3] Examples of Surnames with suffix e are Purandare from the village of Purandhar.
Some Deshastha Brahmin surnames are also derived from their gotra name of rishi For example, prominent Marathi writer, a poet Pralhad Keshav Atre popularly known as Acharya Atre surname "Atre" came from the gotra Atri.[4]
Deshasthas also use the occupation or profession they did as their surnames such as Joshi means astrologer, Vaidya means doctor. Deshasthas who were manufacturers of Salt and who did trading of salt in the state of Karnataka adopted Uppu or Vuppu as their surnames which means Salt in Kannada.[5]
Some Deshastha Brahmin surnames simply describe physical and mental characteristics such as Hirve which means green or Buddhisagar which literally translates to ocean of intellect or "Dharmik" or “Dharmik” which means "very religious".[14]
^Journal, Volumes 5-6. Asiatic Society of Bombay. 1979. p. 236. Vīra, the village granted, is certainly the modern Vir, from which the surname Virkar among Desastha Brāhmaṇs is derived.
^The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 95. Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. 1974. p. 31. Marathi literature is strewn with Deshastha writers. Some of the luminaries are B. S. Murdhekar, the neoclassical poet and critic; the popular dramatists' Acharya P. K. Atre, V.V.Shirwadkar; the poet and story writer G.D.Madgulkar popularly known as the "Modern Walmiki" of Maharashtra, Sahitya Akademi Award winners G. T. Deshpande, Laxmanshastri Joshi, S. N. Banhatti, V. K. Gokak and Mugali all belong to this community.
^Karnataka State Gazetteer: Mandya. Director of Printing, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press. 1967. p. 78. This term means manufacturers of salt (uppu).
^Hatekar, Neeraj. "'Economic Backwardness' in History Deviation from a Eurocentric Theme". IRIS Knowledge Foundation. Department of Economics, University of Mumbai, Mumbai: 32. Even then, it consistently legislated in favour of Maharas of Nagewadi in their disputes with Brahmins over the Patilki watan.
^Jaffrelot 2005, p. 10The balutedari formed the basic structure of the pre-colonial state as evident from the fact that the office of Patil and the Kulkarni had equivalents at the regional level, the Deshmukh and Deshpande (the latter was systematically a Brahmin whereas the former could be a Maratha or Brahmin).
^"Their Surnames". The Illustrated Weekly of India. 91 (3). Bennett, Coleman & Company: 12. July 1970. Generally speaking, excepting names such as Kulkarni, Thackerey, Chitnis, Deshmukh, Deshpande, which are common to many communities in Maharashtra, a C.K.P. can be recognised by his surname.
^Irina Glushkova; Rajendra Vora (eds.). Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra. Oxford University Press. p. 118. The wada tells us of a story of three generations of a family called Deshpande who belong to the Deshastha Brahmin caste. ....Spread all over Maharashtra as a result of this process, Deshastha Brahmans held, in particular, the office of kulkarni.
^Proceedings, Part 1. Indian History Congress. 2001. p. 431. The early use of the word Ghaisas in the form of Gahiyasahasa (brave), is met with in Radhanpur plate of Rashtrakuta Govinda, dated saka 730. Here the term Ghaisas denotes only position or rank and is not restricted to any particular section of Brahmans. This surname is found among the Desastha, Chitpavana and Karhade Brahmans of Maharashtra, in the present days.
Karve, Irawati Karmarkar (1968), "Maharashtra - Land and Its People", Maharashtra State gazetteers - General series, vol. 60, Government of Maharashtra