Ramanathan ( ta, ராமநாதன்) 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 male
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
. Due to the
South Indian tradition of using
patronymic surname
A patronymic surname is a surname originated from the given name of the father or a patrilineal ancestor. Different cultures have different ways of producing patronymic surnames.
For example, early patronymic Welsh surnames were the result of th ...
s it may also be a
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
for males and females. Ramanathan is derived from
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 ...
(a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
god) and 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 ...
word ''
nath
Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions in India.[Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...]
at
Rameshwaram
Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kil ...
, one of the southernmost towns in India. Hindus believe that Lord Rama worshipped Shiva before beginning his journey to
Lanka
Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...
; hence "Lord of Rama". This name is from the history of great epics.
Notable people
Given name
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Annamalai Ramanathan (1946–1993), Indian mathematician
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Devakottai Ramanathan, Indian comedian
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G. Ramanathan (died 1963), Indian composer
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K. G. Ramanathan (1920–1992), Indian mathematician
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K. R. Ramanathan (1893–1984), Indian physicist and meteorologist
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M. Ramanathan, Indian politician
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M. D. Ramanathan (1923–1984), Indian composer and vocalist
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N. Ramanathan (born 1946), Indian musician and academic
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Pathmanathan Ramanathan (1932–2006), Sri Lankan lawyer and judge
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Ponnambalam Ramanathan
Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, CMG, KC ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் இராமநாதன், translit=Poṉṉampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Solicitor-General ...
(1851–1930), Ceylonese politician
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R. Ramanathan Chettiar (1913–1995), Indian businessman, politician and bureaucrat
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Rama Ramanathan
Rama Ramanathan (born 1964) is an Indian politician from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam who served as a Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for Kumbakonam from 1991 to 1996.He was a staunch loyalist of AIADMK Supremo J. ...
(born 1964), Indian politician
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Ramkumar Ramanathan
Ramanathan Ramkumar (born 8 November 1994) is an Indian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as No. 111 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in July 2018, and in doubles at No. 58 ach ...
(born 1994), Indian tennis player
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S. Kumara Kurubara Ramanathan
S. Kumara Kurubara Ramanathan was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political ...
, Indian politician
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S. Ramanathan (1917–1988), musician
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Sellapan Ramanathan
Sellapan Ramanathan (; 3 July 1924 – 22 August 2016),. often known as S. R. Nathan, was a Singaporean politician who served as the sixth president of Singapore between 1999 and 2011. He was also the longest-serving president in Singapore's hi ...
(1924–2016), Singaporean politician
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Veerabhadran Ramanathan
Veerabhadran "Ram" Ramanathan (born 24 November 1944) is Edward A. Frieman Endowed Presidential Chair in Climate Sustainability Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. He has contributed to many areas of the a ...
, Indian climatologist
Surname
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Leelawathy Ramanathan (born 1870), Australian author and publisher
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Ramanathan Indrarajah, Sri Lankan politician
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Ramanathan Gnanadesikan
Ramanathan Gnanadesikan (2 November 1932 – 6 July 2015) was an Indian statistician, known for his work in multivariate data analysis and leadership in the field. He received his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina and headed research g ...
(born 1932), Indian statistician
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Ramanathan Krishnan
Ramanathan Krishnan (born 11 April 1937)
is a retired tennis player from India who was among the world's leading players in the 1950s and 1960s. He was twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961, reaching as high as World No. 3 in Potte ...
(born 1937), Indian tennis player
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Ramanathan V. Guha (born 1965), Indian computer scientist
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Ramanathan Sarathkumar (born 1954), Indian film actor, journalist and politician
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Ramkumar Ramanathan
Ramanathan Ramkumar (born 8 November 1994) is an Indian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as No. 111 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in July 2018, and in doubles at No. 58 ach ...
(born 1994), Indian tennis player
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Sharada Ramanathan, Indian journalist
See also
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{{Surname
Tamil masculine given names