wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (01/19/85)
I recently saw a posting, I believe in net.movies about a movie set in India, that mentioned a character or actor/filmmaker with the name "Bannerjee". Now, I recall that there is at least one net poster with that name. Should I assume that these people are related, or is the name "Bannerjee" in India like the name "Smith" or "Martin" in America; that is, a very common name? Thus, to enlarge the subject to be more general, would it be possible to form a list of the equivalents in each major language, or country (if that is more suitable), to "John Smith" and "Jane Smith" and "John Doe" and "Jane Doe" in American English? The former set (male & female Smiths) would be the archetypal name of the common citizen; a name which really exists and is so common that one would expect it to be a pseudonym. The latter set (male & female Does) are the "legal generic" terms -- names which are used to represent an otherwise-unnamed person, but which are actually NOT really common names themselves (I've known many Smiths but never met a Doe). [I'm not sure where the "John Q. Public" construct fits into this concept. It is used mostly by journalists to refer to "the common man" in general; does this have an equivalent outside America?] Let's start this off with a specific query, directed at India because there is evidence that there are a number of persons on the net who come from there: Are there generally-recognized equivalents to the American English names above in use in the Indian press or in general conversation or legalese among Indian nationals? Would there be a different name or set of names for each ethnic group or language group, or is there one for all Indians? Regards, Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
jcp@brl-tgr.ARPA (Joe Pistritto <jcp>) (01/19/85)
Bannerjee (also spelled Bannerji), is one of the three or four common Bengali Brahmin names (Chaterjee, Mukherjee, Bannerjee and Chakravathy) which comprise probably 80% of all Bengali Brahmins. I would expect there to be approximately 5 million of each in India. I personally know of three different families name Bannerjee that live in the Baltimore, Maryland area. In India, one block that I was staying at a house on had 6 Bannerjee families within a 4 block radius. (And it wasn't even in Bengal!). -JCP- PS: In India, it is usual to know a person's State Ancestry and Caste just from their last name.
agrawal@csd2.UUCP (Mukul Babu Agrawal) (01/20/85)
> > > Bannerjee (also spelled Bannerji), is one of the three or four >common Bengali Brahmin names (Chaterjee, Mukherjee, Bannerjee and >Chakravathy) which comprise probably 80% of all Bengali Brahmins. >I would expect there to be approximately 5 million of each in India. >I personally know of three different families name Bannerjee that >live in the Baltimore, Maryland area. In India, one block that I >was staying at a house on had 6 Bannerjee families within a 4 block >radius. (And it wasn't even in Bengal!). > > -JCP- > > >PS: > In India, it is usual to know a person's State Ancestry and >Caste just from their last name. >/* ---------- */ Quite right , Bannerji is fairly common in the Bengali Brahmins. My vote for the most common surname in India goes to "Singh" . As mentioned before, it is possible ( generally ) to guess the persons caste/region from his surname but in the case of "Singhs" its quite different. As far as I know "Singhs" ( not including the Sikh community ) are in fairly large numbers in atleast three states in India ( namely Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ). If one includes the Sikh community as well ( In their case Singh is generally a middle name ) the number of Sighs will far outnumber the "Smith" population of the world. There are many other common surnames like "Rao" or "Murthy" in S.India and I believe they too are in large numbers. Even my caste ( Agrawal ) is extremely common in the North . Mukul Babu Agrawal agrawal@csd2.arpa
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Barry Gold) (01/21/85)
The British equivalent of "John Q. Public" is "John Bull." My Random House credits this to "John Bull," chief character in Arbuthnot's allegory, "The History of John Bull" (1712. --Lee Gold
nxn@ihuxm.UUCP (Dave Nixon) (01/23/85)
>The British equivalent of "John Q. Public" is "John Bull." >My Random House credits this to "John Bull," chief character in Arbuthnot's >allegory, "The History of John Bull" (1712. > --Lee Gold I have never heard this used. One equivalent in common use today is "Joe Bloggs." There are probably many regional variations. Dave Nixon ..ihnp4!ihuxm!nxn