A coin, around 200 BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya
Kumar (pronunciationⓘ; Sanskrit: कुमारkumārá) is a title, given name, middle name, or a family name found in the Indian subcontinent, mainly in, but not limited to, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, though not specific to any religion, ethnicity, or caste. It is a generic title which variously means prince, son, boy, or chaste. It is the 11th most common family name in the world as of August 2019.[1]
History
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The origin of kumar can be traced back to the early development of Hinduism and its origin in ancient India. The first usage of Kumar was for the Four Kumāras, the four sons of Brahma from the Puranic texts of Hinduism named Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, and Sanat.
In Skanda Purana, the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts, the text is devoted mainly to the leelas of Kartikeya, son of Shiva and Parvati. "Kumar" is used to refer Kartikeya.
Geographical distribution
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As of 2014, 97.3% of all known bearers of the surname Kumar were residents of India. The frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following states and union territories:[2]
1. Himachal Pradesh (1: 9)
2. Chandigarh (1: 10)
3. Delhi (1: 11)
3. Haryana (1: 11)
4. Bihar (1: 15)
5. Jammu and Kashmir (1: 16)
5. Uttar Pradesh (1: 16)
6. Uttarakhand (1: 28)
7. Rajasthan (1: 30)
8. Punjab (1: 39)
Notable people
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First name
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Kumar Basnet, (born 1943) Nepalese folk singer
Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lankan cricketer and International cricket umpire
Kumar Gandharva (1924–1992), Indian singer
Kumar Gaurav, Indian film actor
Kumar Kashyap Mahasthavir, Nepalese Buddhist monk
Kumar Malavalli, Indian businessman
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Indian industrialist
Kumar Pallana, Indian film actor
Kumar Ponnambalam (1940–2000), Sri Lankan lawyer and politician
Kumar Pradhan, Nepalese scholar
Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan, Indian race car driver
Kumar Rocker, American baseball pitcher
Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team
Kumar Sanu, Indian playback singer
Kumar Shahani (1940-2024), Indian film director
Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, cricketer who played for England
Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, AKA K. S. Ranjitsinhji, Indian prince, maharaja and Test cricketer
Kumar Vishwas, Hindi-language performance poet
Middle name
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Abhas Kumar Ganguly, birth name of Kishore Kumar
Adarsh Kumar Goel, Indian judge
Ajith Kumar Siriwardena, Sri Lankan Briton professor of hepato-pancreatico-biliary surgery
Akshay Kumar Datta, Bengali writer
Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, a leading physicist
Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician
Anant Kumar Agarwal, engineer
Ananth Kumar Hegde, Indian politician
Anil Kumar Jha, (born 1969) Nepalese politician
Anjani Kumar Sharma, Nepalese surgeon
Arjun Kumar Basnet, (born 1975) Nepalese marathon runner
General Arunkumar Vaidya,[3] the former Chief of Indian Army
Arup Kumar Kundu, educationist, rheumatologist, clinician, orator, teacher, and author
Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, Nepalese politician
Devendra Kumar Joshi, the Indian Chief of Naval Staff
Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, serving four star flag officer of the Indian Navy.
Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a Bengali singer, composer and producer
Inder Kumar Gujral, an Indian politician who served as the 12th Prime Minister of India
Keshav Kumar Budhathoki, Nepali politician
Madhav Kumar Nepal, Former Prime Minister of Nepal
Manoj Kumar Katiyar, general officer of the Indian Army
Manoj Kumar Pandey, Indian Army officer, recipient of the Param Vir Chakra
Manoj Kumar Sharma, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer
Nirmal Kumar Verma, former senior naval officer
Pawan Kumar Chamling, an Sikkimese politician who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim
Pradip Kumar Rai known as Byakul Maila, Nepalese poet
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Indian politician who was the leader of the Assam Movement, a former Chief Minister of Assam.
Prem Kumar Dhumal, chief minister of Indian state
Raj Kumar Saini, Indian politician
Raj Kumar Rao, Indian actor
Raj Kumar Kapoor, Indian actor, director
Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, retired Indian Air Force officer, who served as the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force
Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Indian freestyle wrestler
Roop Kumar Rathod, an Indian playback singer and music director
Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DANIPS officer.
Santosh Kumar Ghosh, Bengali writer and journalist
Santosh Kumar Gupta, former Indian Navy admiral, recipient of Maha Vir Chakra
Satinder Kumar Saini, vice chief of the Indian army