Endangered Species- Us

There is a website that tells you, given a surname, how many people with that name exist in the world. Nargundkars are, like the Parsis, an endangered species, though the reasons could be different. There were only about 260 of us when last estimates came in (from that website). So it is with great joy that one looks at the arrival of a new Nargundkar. Here's the latest one on his uncle's shoulder..he will shoulder the burden of carrying our name forward when he grows up.

 and in his mother's arms, along with a slightly older Nargundkar in his Dad's.

Above-  The bride on the right is a newly inducted Nargundkar (if she choses to use the surname), with her dapper hubby and dapperer Father-in-law (and my cousin). One more cousin of mine is in white, upping the count.
Below, a few more of the species thrown in this post for good measure.me, with my Mom, sister, brother.

Naming Kids and More

How do people name kids? Kings had it easy, as in just repeat the name with a roman numeral to prove that you could count, until a coup removed the last-mentioned numeral from the throne.

Why I was called Rajendra is that a great man turned into our first President, and his name was Rajendra Prasad. We had a brainwave about Prarthana (our first) and were influenced by film stars Pooja (Bhatt and Batra) for our second.

Many surnames emerged from professions- worldwide. What inspires people to still retain a name like Smith I cannot fathom. I like Wodehouse's Psmith idea, for its use of the differentiation strategy. I also like the U.P. style of renaming your surnames or not using them (sometimes to hide your caste)- free-for-all, in other words, like the state itself seems to be.

The feminist version of not changing surnames after marriage is fine, but may lead to confusion about the family tree. Though if there are no trees, families may vanish in due course, so it might not be that important in the longish run.

The weirdest (sur)name I have encountered is 'Cabinetmaker' ; combined with the first name Armaity, even more so.