Frequency: (2743)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Indian (northern states): Hindu (Bania) and Jain name, from Sanskrit gupta ‘secret’, ‘protected’. This is a wellknown name of ancient India; the two greatest empires of ancient northern India were both founded by persons named Chandragupta (see also Chandra). The founder of the Maurya empire in the 4th century BC was Chandragupta Maurya. In the 4th century AD, the Gupta empire was founded by another Chandragupta, and a long line of Gupta kings ruled India for about 200 years.
GIVEN NAMES: Indian 93%. Sanjay (45), Rakesh (40), Ajay (34), Vijay (33), Ashok (30), Anil (29), Sunil (28), Suresh (26), Ramesh (25), Raj (24), Sandeep (20), Satish (20).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
