Srinivasa (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

) is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

name. The term Srinivasa is

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

in origin, the combination of two

words, ''

Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

'' (श्री) and ''nivasa'' (निवास). It is a name for males in India as well as a family surname. Shrinivasan (श्रीनिवासन्) is the singular nominative form, and along with its variants Srinivasan, Srinivas, and others, is used as a forename or

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

Etymology

''Shri'' means "radiance" or "diffusing light"; ''nivasa'' means "place of residence", which is considered to be the source of light (as a metaphor for life) in Hindu scriptures. ''Shri'' is also an epithet of

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

who is the consort associated with Venkateshvara, and often described to be embodied within him. Hence, the alternative meaning of this name is: "one within whom Lakshmi (Sri) lives".

Variants

Srinivas is the northern Indian variant of the original Sanskrit name Srinivasa, employed after the schwa-deletion in the Indo-Aryan languages. The use of the name Srinivasan (also rendered Sreenivasan) is common in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. Similarly, the dialectical word, Srinivasulu, is commonly used in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. The name is also very much prevalent in

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, among other parts of India. The other variants in English spelling include Sreenivas, Shrinivas, Shreenivas, Srinibas, Shrinibas.

Notable people

As first name

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar (22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Often regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial con ...

, Indian mathematician * Srinivas, 1990s Tamil Nadu playback singer, also known as Srinivasan Doraiswamy * Srinivasan, also known as "Powerstar", Tamil comedian * Sreenivasan, Malayalam script writer and actor * Srinivas Avasarala, actor * Srinivasan Keshav, scientist *

Srinivas Kumar Sinha Lieutenant General Srinivas Kumar Sinha, PVSM, ADC (7 January 1926 – 17 November 2016) was an Indian Army General who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. After his retirement, he served as Governor of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, ...

(1926-2016), Indian soldier * Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Indian cricketer

As middle name

* Ullal Srinivas Mallya (1902-1965), Indian politician * Vaman Srinivas Kudva (1899-1967), Indian businessman

As last name

* Trivikram Srinivas, Indian film director and screenwriter * Adithya Srinivasan, Ghazal singer and global business development leader * Akhila Srinivasan, Indian businesswoman *

Balaji Srinivasan Balaji S. Srinivasan (born May 24, 1980) is an American entrepreneur and investor. He was the co-founder of Counsyl, the former chief technology officer (CTO) of Coinbase, and former general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen ...

(born May 24, 1980), American entrepreneur and investor * Dharmapuri Srinivas (born 27 September 1948), Indian politician * Dipti Srinivasan, Singaporean electrical engineer * Grandhi Srinivas, Indian politician * Hari Sreenivasan (b. 1974), Indian-American TV journalist * Kamineni Srinivas, Indian politician * Kannan Srinivasan, Indian-American politician in Virginia * Krishnan Srinivasan, Indian diplomat *

M. B. Sreenivasan Manamadurai Balakrishnan Sreenivasan (19 September 1925 – 9 March 1988), or MBS, was a South Indian music director who worked mainly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He was born to an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on 19 Sept ...

(Manamadurai Balakrishnan known as MBS, 1925–1988), Indian music director *

M. N. Srinivas Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas (16 November 1916 – 30 November 1999) was an Indian sociologist and social anthropologist. He is mostly known for his work on caste and caste systems, social stratification, Sanskritisation and Westernisation i ...

(Mysore Narasimhachar, 1916–1999), Indian sociologist * Madapuji Rajagopalan Srinivasan (born 31 May 1967), usually cited as M.R. Srinivasan, head of Agricultural Entomology at the Agricultural College and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. He has published works on both '' Apis cerana'' and ''

Apis mellifera The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for 'bee', and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for 'honey-bearing' or 'honey-carrying', ...

'' (western honey bee). * Madapusi Srinivasaprasad, Indian cricketer * Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan ("Srini"), usually cited as M.V. Srinivasan (born 15 September 1948), bioengineer and

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

, who studies

visual system The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to perception, detect and process light). The system detects, phototransduction, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to ...

s, particularly those of Western honey bees (''

'') and birds; faculty member Queensland Brain Institute at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. * N. Srinivasan (Narayanaswami, born 1945), Indian industrialist and chemical engineer * P. Seenivasan, Indian politician, Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1972 * P. Srinivas,

Indian Forest Service The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is the premier forest service of India. .The IFS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) & the Indian Police Service (IPS). It was constituted in the year 1966 un ...

officer * P. B. Sreenivas (Prathivadi Bhayankara, 1930–2013), Indian playback singer * R. Srinivasan, Indian politician, member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly * Rangaswamy Srinivasan, scientist * Rettamalai Srinivasan, Indian politician * Shyam Srinivasan, Canadian professional midstakes poker player * Sri Srinivasan, American judge * Subramaniam Srinivasan, Indian filmmaker * T. E. Srinivasan (Tirumalai Echambadi, 1950–2010), Indian cricketer * T. N. Srinivasan (Thirukodikaval Nilakanta, 1933–2018), economist who worked in the US * Thengai Srinivasan (1937–1987), Indian actor * U. Srinivas (Uppalapu, 1969–2014), Indian mandolin player * Vandemataram Srinivas, Indian music director, playback singer, actor and film director *

Vineeth Sreenivasan Vineeth Sreenivasan (born 1 October 1984) is an Indian actor, director, producer, dubbing artist, screenwriter, playback singer and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is the eldest son of actor and screenwriter Sreeniva ...

(born 1 October 1985), Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, etc., working in Malayalam cinema, son of actor-screenwriter Sreenivasan. * Yogi Srinivasan, Indian actor, son of Thengai Srinivasan

As pseudonym

* Shrinivási, Surinamese poet and teacher

References

{{given name, type=both Indian masculine given names Masculine given names