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Gautama (name)

Gautama (Classical Sanskrit: /ɡɑw.t̪ɐ.mɐ/ ), also spelled Gautam, Goutam, Gautham, Gowtham, and Gotam is a given name and surname of Sanskrit origin. It means "relative of Gotama".

Goutam is the usual Bengali transcription of the name.

Etymology and attestations

Gautama is a Vṛddhi patronymic derivative of Gotama (Classical Sanskrit: /ɡoː.t̪ɐ.mɐ/ ), meaning "related to Gotama". Gotama means "richest in cows" according to Mayrhofer (1992) or "the largest ox" according to Monier-Williams (1899).

Gautama is the name or part of the name of important religious figures such as Maharshi Gautama, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), the founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy Akṣapāda Gautama, and Mahavira's chief disciple (Ganadhara) Gautama Swami (Indrabhuti Gautama).

The name is attested in the Avesta once, in Yt. 13.16: “An eloquent man will be born, who makes his words heard in verbal contests, whose judgment is sought after, who comes away from the discussion victorious over the defeated Gaotəma.”. The name Ka-u-da-ma found in the Persepolis tablets may linguistically be the same as Gaotəma, and related to Gautama.

Incidence

As of 2014, 'Gautam' is the 2,179th most common given name in the world, with a total of 464,750 people named it. It is the 276th most common given name in India, with 446,365 people named it, the 725th most common given name in Nepal, with 5,183 people named it, and the 3,189th most common given name in Bangladesh, with 4,949 people named it. It is primarily a male name. A total of 357,140 people in the world bear it as their surname. It is the 313th most common surname in India, with 233,387 people having it. It is the 54th most common surname in Nepal, with 113,669 people having it. 'Goutam' is the 937th most common given name in India, with 163,102 people named it. It is the name of 18,146 people in Bangladesh. It is also primarily a male name. A total of 12,896 in the world bear it as their surname.

Given name

Historical

Modern

Surname

Historical

Modern

References

External links