The Patel is an Indian surname or
title, predominantly found in the
state of
Gujarat representing the community of land-owning farmers and later (with the British
East India Company) businessmen, agriculturalists and merchants. Traditionally the title is a status name referring to the village
chieftains during
medieval times, and was later retained as successive generations stemmed out into communities of landowners, including
Patidars,
Kolis
The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they ...
,
Kurmis,
some
Parsis and
Muslims. There are roughly 500,000 Patels outside India, including about 150,000 in the
United Kingdom and about 150,000 in the
United States. Nearly 1 in 10 people of Indian origin in the
US is a Patel.
Etymology
The term ''patel'' derives from the word
Patidar, literally "one who holds (owned) pieces of land called ''patis'', implying a higher economic status than that of the landless, ultimately from
Sanskrit ''paṭṭakīla'', with the ending ''-dar'' (from Sanskrit "धार"—supporting, containing, holding) denoting ownership.
Geographical distribution
The surname historically originated in the Indian state of
Gujarat, where it is amongst the most common of surnames.
Today, the name is found across India, as well as in the
Indian diaspora.
See also
*
List of people with surname Patel
* ''
Meet the Patels''
*
Patil
*
Patil (surname)
Patil is an Indian surname used in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In Armenia, the word could be used as a first name for a girl and it means 'snowflake' in the Armenian language.
Notable people
* Anjali Patil, thea ...
References
{{surname
Agricultural castes
Gujarati people
Gujarati-language surnames
Indian feudalism
Koli people
Koli subcastes
Koli titles
Occupational surnames
Social groups of Gujarat
Surnames of Indian origin