Richard Bond wrote, June 18, 2003: "In looking at the garbling of British and Danish virgin Islands surnames in Puerto Rican civil records I got the impression that some of the results might have been influenced by the absence of teeth. An example of an attached honorary prefix can be found in Seepersad which I think is taken from Sri Prasad." ********* My further comment: Sri is more than just an honorary prefix which is the common view. Below is the same name and its meanings when combined with certain suffixes. Shree .... Mr., god Shreedhar .... husband of Lakshmi (i.e.Vishnu) Shreekant .... husband of Shree(Lakshmi) [i.e. Vishnu], beautiful Shreekanth .... Shiva (=Shrikanth) Shreekumar .... beautiful (=Shrikumar) Shreekrishna .... Krishna (=Shrikrishna) Shreenivas .... abode of Lakshmi (vaikunth, Vishnu) [=Shrinivas] Shreyas .... superior I have also met young people from India with the name Sri. These were too young to have honorary titles. Some of them had their names correctly pronounced and others did not. So there was S'ri (Siree)and Sh'ri and then there was Sheree (like the french Cherie) which always put a smile on my face. The above names of course has been given a Hindi to English transliteration, in relation to other "Indian" languages, it may be possible to detect the original language from the way it is transliterated into English. We should also be mindful that nicknames were also given in addition to the personal fore-names, and these may also have ended up in the West Indies as Surnames. This brings us to the nature of Indian / Asian names in general. They are primarily descriptive, aspirational or inspirational, and all combined. They may also be astrological significance, and in many places in Asia not excluding India, an "astrologer" has to be consulted for a name. Some-times this has to take place for good fortune for the child at a auspicious times or Raashis which are determined by planetary positions at the date and exact time of the child's birth, rather than at the moment of birth or even soon after. For some communities a naming ceremony may take place three months later than birth. How much of this was capable of being practised in the indentureship period is debateable but not unlikely. If such names included the relevant astronomical indicators then there would be clues as to when the birth took place. The examples above also demonstrates another aspect of Indian names, also shared by Muslim names, the inclusion of the name of a God or Gods in the name. Such names may offer clues as to the origins of the persons. We are told that Hinduism has over a million Gods. I find it hard to believe, but even a crusading convert to Christianity in North America, (on University campuses and elswhere, who was brought up Hindu), has stated this to be true. What may be the case is that a certain group of Gods may be "local" to a village, clan, tribe or caste, or to a region. Such Gods may also change over time. The names of Gods may provide clues as to the place origins of the persons bearing the names. Caste names have also ended up as surnames. But these appear to be fewer than expected, and is perfectly understandable in a situation where one's caste is defined by one's occupation and also dress and decorative aspects on the body, as well as specific religious practices. While the names of sub-castes have ended up as surnames, such as Singh, Thakur, Das, Gopa, Biswas, Battacharya, etc., these are given different caste rankings and even diferent functions in various regions. The days of the week, as personal forenames for Hindus, have also ended up as Surnames in the West Indies. So we have Etwaroo (Etwar-Sunday); Soomaroo (Soomar-Monday); Mangroo (Mongar-Tuesday); Boodhoo (Boodh-Wednesday); Beekoo (Beeky-Thursaday); Sookhoo (Sookh-Friday) and lastly, Sanicheroo (Sannicher-Saturday). Only the last I have not seen as a surname, but in general such names are not likely to offer many genealogically relevant clues. Muslims have what are called the "99 beautiful names" of God or Allah. These are like the Hindu names as both traditions are based on attributes of God, or how Allah or the Gods of Hinduism can be described. Many of the 99 end up in personal or fore-names and in the West Indies as surnames. I have seen personal/fore-names with the suffix 'allah or 'ullah or 'ollah as in the case of Abd'allah, Amanallah, Nurullah, etc., and very many names have such endings, with or without the "h" at the end. Names can also be prefixed with Al-, An-; Ar-, Ash-,Ya, and Yo. There are several lists of the 99 Beautiful names of God, but they are closely similar. There is even some controversy that to limit the attributes of God is to limit the infinite. Just limiting myself to the ones with which I am personally familiar and which have ended up as Surnames, from one list we get Ar-Rahman (The Most Compassionate); Ar-Rahim (The Most Merciful); Al-Malik (The Absolute Master); Al-Aziz (The Mighty); Al-Kabir (The Most Majestic); Ar-Razzaq (The Sustainer, Provider); Al-Basir (The All-Seeing); Al-Ghaffur (The Forgiver, and Hider of Faults); Al-'Aliy (The Highest, Exalted One), Al-Karim (The Generous); Al-Majid (The Most Glorious One); Al-Haqq (The Truth). We have seen most of these before in an earlier email spelt slightly differently. Maybe if all 99 do end up in personal/forenames, and various locales, villages, clans, regions have various preferences, such names may also offer clues as to the origins of the bearer. I hope this serves as a further contribution to the issue of Indian names. Below is a further relevant Bibliography on the issue of Names: Asian names : guide to assist understanding of the naming systems of people from the Indian sub-continent By Vinod Hallan, Hilary Robinson, Hansa Patel Walsall Education Committee Equal Opportunities Unit (UK) 1993,16p. Author table for Indian names By India National Library Calcutta. Government of India Press.1961 Babies' Names from the Indian Subcontinent By Vimla Patel Foulsham. U.K. 1992.96p. Book of Indian names By Raja Ram Mehrotra Rupa & Co. New Delhi. 1994. 292 p. Cataloguing of Indian Muslim names By Mohammed Haroon Islamic Book Centre. Lahore, Pakistan. 1986. 72 p. Dictionary of Pali proper names By G.PMalalasekera, G. P. Luzac. London. 1960. 2v. Pearls of the faith, or, Islam's rosary : being the ninety- nine beautiful names of Allah (Asmâh-el-'Husnâ), with comments in verse from various Oriental sources (as made by an Indian Mussulman) By Edwin Arnold Trubner. London. 1883 Vedic index of names and subjects By Arthur Anthony Macdonnell and Keith Arthur Berriedale Indian texts series. John Murray.London. Published for the Government of India.1912 2vols. Bibliography included. Includes bibliographical footnotes and indexes Vedic index of names and subjects By Arthur Anthony MacDonnell and Keith Arthur Berriedale Indian Texts Series. Baranasi. Under the patronage of Uttar Pradesh Government by Motilal Banarsidass 1958. 2 vols. Photographic reprint from the original edition, Murray, London, 1912