Shenoy is 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 ...

from

coastal Karnataka Kanara, also known as Karavali is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The region comprises three civil districts, ...

and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is found among

Hindus 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 ...

of the

Goud Saraswat Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd) are a Hindu Brahmin community of the north. The Konkani speaking Gaud Saraswat of Goa and southern India claim to be descendents of these Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of the north that migrated to K ...

community following Smartha Sampradaya of Kavale Matha or Madhva Sampradaya of either

Gokarna Matha Shri Gokarna Math or Partagali Math ( also known as ''Gokarna Matha'', ''Partagali Jivottama Math'') is the first Gaud Saraswat Mathas of the Dvaita order, a system established by Jagadguru Madhvacharya in the 13th century AD. This matha also ca ...

Kashi Math Kashi Math is a matha (monastery) and a spiritual organisation followed by the Madhva section of Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, who are also referred as Madhwa Saraswat Brahmins or Vaishnava Saraswat Brahmins. It dates back to the 16th century. With it ...

a. Some Brahmin Christian families of

South Canara South Canara was a district of the Madras Presidency of British India, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the capital in Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the most heterogeneous areas o ...

have reverted to their pre-conversion surnames like Shenoy.

Etymology

There are two theories about the origin of Shenoy or Shenvi. # The Sanskrit word ''Shrenipati'', meaning the leader of the guild, which got converted as ''Shennivayi'' in ''

Apabhraṃśa Apabhraṃśa ( sa, अपभ्रंश, , Prakrit: , ta, அவப்பிரஞ்சனம், , ) is a term used by '' vaiyākaraṇāḥ'' (native grammarians) since Patañjali to refer to languages spoken in North India before the ris ...

'', and later as ''Shenai'' or ''Shenvi'' in old Konkani. # It is from the Sanskrit word for 96, ṣaṇṇavati (षण्णवति). The significance of the word 96 among Konkanis is that 96 villages formed the core region of Goa. It is said that 96 clans / families of Saraswat Brahmins arrived in Gomantak and settled in one village each. 66 villages were in Sashti region (66 in Sanskrit is ṣaṭ ṣaṣṭi - षट् षष्टि. Sashti became Salcette during the Portuguese rule) and 30 villages were in Tiswadi region.

Background and origins

The Shenoys were generally involved in administration of the city. The word 'Shenoy' itself means a writer. GSBs were administrators of the temples. The word 'Shenoy' is also interchangeable with its counterpart
Shanbhag
The Saraswats migrated from Goa during the Muslim and Christian conquests during 1600, and carried their surname with them. Thus the word 'शणै' is transliterated in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...

as ''Shenoy'' in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and as ''Xennai, Shenoi, Shenai, Shenvi'' or even ''

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

'' in

. ''Xennoi'' is less commonly used in the erstwhile

Portuguese Goa and Damaon The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

, but nowadays it has given way to ''Xennai'' today. It was common in Goa for Shenoys and other Saraswats to add the name of their ancestral

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

after Shenoy to denote their origin.

Notable people

The following is a list of notable people with the surname 'Shenoy', 'Shanbhag'. *

Aishwarya Nag Aishwarya Nag is an Indian actress and model, who has appeared in South Indian films, primarily in Kannada cinema. After her modelling, she made her acting debut in the film ''Neene Neene'' (2008). She rose to fame by acting in the Kannada film ...

: Originally Aishwarya Nagendra Shenoy, South Indian actress * Arun Shenoy: composer and music producer who has received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination *

Basti Vaman Shenoy Basti Vaman Madhav Shenoy (6 November 1934 – 2 January 2022) was an Indian Konkani activist popularly known as ''Vishwa Konkani Sardar'' (World Konkani Leader) and was the founder of World Konkani Centre in Shakthinagar, Mangalore. Early ...

: Konkani activist and founder of

World Konkani Centre World Konkani Centre ( Konkani: विश्व कोंकणी केंद्र,ವಿಶ್ವ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣಿ ಕೇಂದ್ರ್ ; kn, ವಿಶ್ವ ಕೊಂಕಣಿ ಕೇಂದ್ರ) was founded by Konkani Bhas Ani S ...

in Mangalore *

Prathima Devi Prathima Devi (9 April 1933 – 6 April 2021) was an Indian actress known for her work in Kannada films. Devi made her debut through the 1947 film ''Krishnaleela''. She starred in the lead role in '' Jaganmohini'' (1951), the first Kannada film ...

: Kannada actress, wife of

D. Shankar Singh D. Shankar Singh was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, exhibitor and a freedom fighter during the British rule in India. Singh, along with B. Vittalacharya co-found the "Mahatma Pictures", a production venture in 1946, that ha ...

, mother of

Rajendra Singh Babu S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu (born 22 October 1952) is an Indian filmmaker and occasional actor who works primarily in Kannada cinema. He was born and brought up in Mysore. His father Shankar Singh produced many films under the banner Mahatma Pict ...

Preeti Shenoy Preeti Shenoy is an Indian author and blogger. Early life and education During her school years, Shenoy studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya. Shenoy is also a self-taught artist. Writing career After writing as a blogger, Shenoy published her fi ...

: artist and writer *

Samskruthy Shenoy Samskruthy Shenoy (born 20 November 1998) is an Indian actress who has acted in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. Early life Samskruthy Shenoy was educated at Saraswathi Vidyanikethan Public School in Kochi. She is trained in Bharat ...

: actress who has appeared in South Indian films *

Shenoi Goembab Waman Raghunath Shennoi Varde Valaulikar (23 June 1877 – 9 April 1946), known popularly as Shenoi Goembab, was a noted Konkani writer and activist. Early life Waman Shenoi was born on 23 June 1877 at Bicholim, Goa. He came from a notable ...

(1877–1946): Konkani Pandit *

Krishna V. Shenoy Krishna V. Shenoy (1968-2023) was an American neuroscientist and neuroengineer at Stanford University. Shenoy focused on motor and computational neuroscience, neuroengineering, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and neurotechnology. Throughout his ...

Hong Seh and Vivian W.M. Lim Professor in the School of Engineering, Stanford University. * Suresh V. Shenoy: executive and philanthropist * Vasudev V Shenoy (1940 – 2015): Educationist, Educational Counsellor, Journalist and a Social Activist * Vijay Balakrishna Shenoy: Professor of physics and recipient of the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, the highest science award in India * Prashant Shenoy: Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

T. V. R. Shenoy T. V. R. Shenoy (10 June 1941 – 17 April 2018) was a journalist and columnist of India. Shenoy had served as the Editor of the weekly news magazine ''The Week'' and ''Sunday Mail'' and held various posts in ''Indian Express'' and ''Malayala M ...

: Journalist, editor, and columnist

References

{{reflist

Etymology

Background and origins

Notable people

References

Further reading