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Sinha

{{short description|Surname in the Indian subcontinent}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}

{{Infobox surname

|name = Sinha

|pronunciation =

|image =

|caption =

|meaning =

|region = Bengal

|origin = Bengali Hindu

|variant =

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Sinha is a surname which originates in the Indian subcontinent. The surname is commonly used by many communities including the Bengali Kayastha and the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of the Hindi Belt,{{Cite book |last=Koul |first=Ram Krishan |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Sociology_of_Names_and_Nicknames_of_Indi/U1lmAAAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Sociology of Names and Nicknames of India: With Special Reference to Kashmir |date=1982 |publisher=Utpal Publications |pages=47 |language=en}} and is common in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "lion" or "brave person".{{cite book|title=Twenty-six Ways of Looking at a BlackBerry: How to Let Writing Release the Creativity of Your Brand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8f66aoAfcQQC|author=John Simmons|publisher=A&C Black|page=173|accessdate=1 April 2009|isbn = 9781408105962|date = 1 April 2009}}{{cite book|title=Ceylon's Foreign Policy Under the Bandaranaikes (1956-65): A Political Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IesBAAAAMAAJ|author=Dhirendra Mohan Prasad|publisher=S. Chand|year=1973|page=217}}

Usage

=<span lang="ml" dir="ltr">Indian</span> subcontinent=

In India, Sinha is commonly used as a surname by the Kayasthas of the West Bengal and Bihar.{{cite book | first=Ronald B. |last=Inden | year =1976|title=Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC&pg=PA40|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-52002-569-1|page=40}}{{cite book | first=Ashwani |last=Kumar | year =2008|title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA195|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-1-84331-709-8|page=195}}{{cite book|title=India International Centre Quarterly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3pDAAAAYAAJ|publisher=India International Centre|year=2001|page=210|quote=In spite of the ubiquitous presence of the surname Singh/Sinha which itself is associated with a lion symbolic of power and status, we have a whole range of surnames particularly in Kashmir, Gujarat, Maharashtra}}

In Sri Lanka, the term 'Sinha' (or Siha / Sinhe / Singhe / Singha / Singho) have commonly been used by the Sinhalese (or Sinhala). When it comes to the term 'Sinhala' itself, the first part of the word, 'Sinha' stands for lion while 'la' or 'le' stands for blood, giving the meaning 'Lion's blood'.{{cite book|title=Spirit Versus Scalpel: Traditional Healing and Modern Psychotherapy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khm6A1Z2Ln8C|author1=Leonore Loeb Adler|author2=B. Runi Mukherji|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1995|page=96|isbn = 9780897894067}}

The word Simhmam (or Singam / Singham / Singhai / Singai) is the Sri Lankan Tamil derivative. In northeast India, Sinhas held high positions as advisors during the times of the Mughal Empire. In northern and middle part of India as well as southern India Sinhraj/Sinharaj/Sinharaja or Rajasinha is also used, having the meaning Lion/Leo king.{{cite book|title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures|url=https://archive.org/details/cyclopindiaeast03balfuoft|author=Edward Balfour|publisher=B. Quaritch|year=1885|page=[https://archive.org/details/cyclopindiaeast03balfuoft/page/659 659]–660}}

The more common surname Singh in India has the same root. Jayasinghe and other surnames like 'Wijesinghe', 'Weerasingha', 'Edirisinghe', 'Singaiariyan' in Sri Lanka may also share this root.

=Brazil=

Sinha is also an unrelated name found in Brazil. "Sinhá moça" is a Brazilian colloquialism that may be translated "miss" or "missy".{{cite book|title=Iaiá Garcia|author=Machado de Assis|publisher=University Press of Kentucky}}

Notable persons with the surname Sinha

Fictional characters

Places named after Sinha

  • Sigiriya, fortress in Sri Lanka; its short name derives from 'Sinha Giriya' meaning "The rocky place of lions"
  • Singapore, named from 'Singa Pura' / 'Sinha Pure' which means Lion City in Sanskrit, before 1819

See also

References

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Category:Surnames

Category:Surnames of Indian origin

Category:Bengali Hindu surnames