Shenoy is a surname from coastal Karnataka 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 community following Smartha Sampradaya of Kavale Matha or

Madhva Sampradaya Sadh Vaishnavism (IAST: ''Sādh Vaiṣṇavism''), (popularly referred as Madhva Sampradaya, Madhva Vaishnavism and Brahma Sampradaya), is a denomination within the VaishnavismBhagavata tradition of Hinduism. Sadh Vaishnavism was founded by thirt ...

of either Gokarna Matha or Kashi Matha. 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 of ...

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'', 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 I ...

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'' 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 ...

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 Arun Shenoy (born 30 April 1978) is a Singaporean musician and songwriter. He is best known for his Grammy Award nomination at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards for his debut full-length studio album '' Rumbadoodle'' released in 2012. "Bliss", the f ...

: 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 pr ...

nomination * Basti Vaman Shenoy: Konkani activist and founder of World Konkani Centre in Mangalore * Prathima Devi: Kannada actress, wife of D. Shankar Singh, mother of Rajendra Singh Babu * Preeti Shenoy: artist and writer * Samskruthy Shenoy: actress who has appeared in South Indian films * Shenoi Goembab (1877–1946): Konkani Pandit * Krishna V. Shenoy 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 or fundamental, in biology, ...

, 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, ...

* T. V. R. Shenoy: Journalist, editor, and columnist

References

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Etymology

Background and origins

Notable people

References

Further reading