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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Indian (Kerala) : Hindu (Nayar) name, from Malayalam mēnōn, usually used to mean ‘accountant’, but literally ‘exalted one’ (earlier mēnavan, mēlavan, from mēl ‘high’ + the third person singular masculine pronoun, avan ‘he’). Originally, this was a hereditary title conferred by the rulers of various kingdoms in Kerala.

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