Family name origins & meanings
- Indian (Karnataka) : Hindu name from Sanskrit svāmī ‘lord’, ‘master’. It also refers to a learned Brahman or religious man. As a personal name, it appears to have evolved from use as the final element in compound personal names such as Ramaswamy ‘lord Rama’ and Krishnaswamy ‘lord Krishna’. It is found only as a given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name in the U.S.