Ganguly (surname)

Ganguly (also called Ganguli, Ganguly, Gangulee, Gangoly or Gangopadhyay) is an Indian family name of a Bengali jijhotia Brahmin caste; it is a variant of Gangele Gangopadhyay(a) Gônggopaddhae. The historical book 'Jāti-Bhāṣkar' mentions that those who were given grants in the village named Gangul, by Ballāl Sena were called Ganguly (i). Also, called Gangopādhyāy (literally 'the Vedic teachers in the regions around the Ganges') because they selected the profession of teaching (upadhyay).

The ancestors of Gangulys are from a hermit or saint called Savarna Muni^[a], belonging to the family of Bhrigu and thus all Gangulys have the same Savarna Gotra, and Aurva-Bhrigu-Chyavana-Aapnuvata-Jaamadagnya Pancha (Five) pravaras which means they are from the same ancestral root.

The Savarna Roychoudhury family of Kolkata are actually Gangopadhyay. The titles Roy and later Choudhury were bestowed on their ancestor Lakshmikanta Gangopadhyay by the Muslim emperors Akbar and Jahangir. Job Charnok had purchased three villages from this family. These three villages became Kolkata during the rule of East India Company.The current actual blood heir of Shridhar Ganguly's are Debaprasad Ganguly, Pradip Ganguly and Arnab Ganguly.

List of persons with the surname

Business

• Ashok Sekhar Ganguly, former chairman of Hindustan Lever
• Pablo Ganguli, (born 1983), Indian cultural entrepreneur

Academic

• Enakshi Ganguly, Indian children's rights activist
• Kadambini Ganguly, one of the two Indian women doctors who was first South Asian female physician, trained in western medicine to graduate in South Asia.

Politics

• Bipin Behari Ganguli (1887-unknown), Indian freedom fighter
• Pratul Chandra Ganguli, (1884–1957), Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary

Sport

• Bhaskar Ganguly, Indian footballer
• Sourav Ganguly (born 1972), former Indian cricket captain and current BCCI President
• S K Ganguli, cricket umpire

Chess

• Surya Shekhar Ganguly (born 1983), Indian chess grandmaster

Film and acting

• Ganguly family
• Ashok Kumar Ganguly (1911–2001), Indian actor
• Chhaya Devi (1914-2001), Indian actress of Bengali and Hindi movies
• Churni Ganguly, Indian actress of Bengali movies and TV serials
• Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (1893-1978), Bengali tim actor, director and entrepreneur
• Dimpy Ganguly, Indian model and actress
• Jeet Ganguly, Hindi and Bengali musical director, composer and singer
• Kaushik Ganguly, Indian director, screenwriter and actor (Bengali cinema)
• Kishore Kumar Ganguly (1929-1987), Indian singer and actor
• Mouli Ganguly, Indian television actor
• Pijush Ganguly, Indian television actor (Bengali)
• Preeti Ganguly, Indian actress
• Richa Gangopadhyay (born 1986), Indian actress
• Roopa Ganguly (born 1966), Indian actress
• Rupali Ganguly (born 1978), Indian actress
• Samir Ganguly, Indian film director
• Subhashree Ganguly (born 1989), Indian actress
• Usha Ganguly (born 1945) theatre director

Music

• Sunil Ganguly (died 1999), Indian guitarist

Writers and translators

• Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Indian translator (Mahabharata into English)
• Narayan Gangopadhyay (1918–1970), Bengali writer
• Sunil Gangopadhyay (born 1934), Bengali writer

Religion

• Theotonius Amal Ganguly (1920-1977), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dhaka

Resources

• http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Ganguly-name-meaning.ashx
• http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/ganguly