Raghavan (Tamil: ராகவன்; Malayalam: രാഘവന്‍) is a

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

n name. It derives from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''raghava'', meaning "derived from

Raghu Raghu () is a ruler of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. According to the '' Raghuvamsha'', he is the son of King Dilīpa and Queen Sudakshina. His successors styled themselves as belonging to the eponymous Raghuvamsha dynasty, or the '' ...

" or "descendant of Raghu" (an

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

of the Hindu god

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

, an incarnation of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

), plus the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -n. Although it is used as a given name in India it has also come to be used as a family name in the United States. It may refer to:

People

Azhikodan Raghavan Azhikodan Raghavan was a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). Personal life He was born on 1 July, 1919, in South Bazar, Kannur. Political life In 1940, he was groomed into a true communist by comrades P. Krishna Pil ...

, Kerala politician *

Edappally Raghavan Pillai Edappally Raghavan Pillai (30 May 1909 – 4 July 1936) was an Indian poet of Malayalam literature and a close associate of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai. The pair, the front-runners of romanticism in Malayalam, was considered by many as the Shel ...

, Malayalam poet *

K. Raghavan K. Raghavan (2 December 1913 – 19 October 2013), also fondly called Raghavan Master, was a Malayalam music composer and Carnatic Vocalist. Along with G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy and Baburaj, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance ...

, Malayalam music composer * K. Raghavan Pillai, writer and scholar from Kerala, India * M. K. Raghavan, Member of Parliament from the Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, India *

M. V. Raghavan Melathu Veettil Raghavan (5 May 1933 – 9 November 2014) was a veteran Communist leader and a former Minister in Kerala state of India. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Marxist Party, an alliance partner in the United Democratic Fr ...

, communist leader from Kerala, India *

Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai (1900–1979) was a Malayalam dramatist, poet, screen play writer and actor who was well known in the role of Ashaan in Kavyamela. He was born in 1900 in Muthukulam, a small village near Haripad in Alappuzha District ...

, Malayalam dramatist, poet, screenwriter, and actor from India * N. S. Raghavan, Indian industrialist * P. Raghavan, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politician from Kasargod district * P. K. Raghavan, former Minister of Kerala, India * P. M. Raghavan, Kerala first-class cricketer * Pa. Raghavan, Tamil writer and journalist from India * Radha Raghavan, (born 1961), Indian National Congress politician * Raghavan N. Iyer, academic and philosopher from Madras, India *

Ramnad Raghavan Ramnad V. Raghavan (19 June 1927 – 21 November 2009) was a player of the ''mridangam''. He was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, to P. Vaidyanatha Ayyar of Kooniyur, Tirunelveli district, and Brhannayaki. His elder brother Ramnad Krishnan ...

, Indian ''mridangam'' player *

Raghavan (actor) Raghavan (born 12 December 1941) is an Indian actor who has acted in Malayalam more than 100 films including Telugu and Kannada films. Malayalam actor Jishnu was his son. From early 2000s he is more active on Malayalam and Tamil television ser ...

, Indian film actor in Malayalam films * M. R. Srinivasaprasad, Indian cricketer * Srinivasacharya Raghavan, Indian mathematician *

Sriram Raghavan Sriram Raghavan (born 22 June 1963) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is primarily considered an auteur of neo-noir action thrillers. Raghavan made his directorial debut with '' Ek Hasina Thi'' (2004). H ...

, Indian film director and screenwriter *

Sumeet Raghavan Sumeet Raghavan is an Indian film, television, and theatre actor known for his roles in '' Wagle Ki Duniya - Nayi Peedi Naye Kissey,'' Hudd Kar Di'', ''Sarabhai vs Sarabhai'', ''Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo'', '' Badi Door Se Aaye Hai'', and Sa ...

, Indian film and television actor * Suren Raghavan, Sri Lankan academic * Raghavan Thirumulpad, Ayurvedic scholar and physician from Kerala, India *

V. R. Raghavan Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Vasantha R. Raghavan is a former Indian military general and now a security consultant. He retired as the director general of military operations in 1994, having served in the Indian Army for 37 years. After retiring from the arm ...

, Indian military strategist *

V. S. Raghavan V S Raghavan (18 February 1925 – 24 January 2015) was an Indian actor, who has acted both in Tamil films as well as television. He started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a character actor in films, starting ...

, (b. 1925), Tamil actor * K.G. Raghavan, Malayalee author, Amrutavani, (Poetic Malayalam rendering of Quran)

Asteroids

* 24149 Raghavan, asteroid

Films

Raghupathi Raghavan Rajaram ''Raghupathi Raghavan Rajaram'' is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Durai, starring Vijayakumar, Rajinikanth and Sumithra. The film was released on 12 August 1977, and did not do well at the box office. It is considered a lost fil ...

, Tamil film *A character in

Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jyothika, and Kamalinee Mukherjee in prominent roles, while Prakash Raj, D ...

, film {{disambiguation, given name, surname Indian surnames Indian given names Tamil masculine given names