The Tale behind my Unusual Surname

Ever thought about surname? Sure, I did. My surname is Shaw and that is not so common in India. Quite often I am asked, where do you belong to, what’s your native place, are you a Christian, are you a Muslim or more directly how come your surname is Shaw. Once I was asked are you an Anglo-Indian. So every time I meet a new person, I have to explain why is my name Shaw. But, sometimes I also get complemented on having such a cool surname. It’s actually quite a tale behind my surname.

People have weird surnames, some are funny too. Especially in India, which is a land of diversity, you can find all kinds of surname. Your surname or as for south India your initials are supposed to carry your family legacy with it. Some people have their father’s name, grandfather’s name, community’s name or even villages name as a part of their surname. With all these sub-names, you tend to have quite a big name, so you have to use initials. But, in my case I have a short and cool surname.

Actually, since I am a badminton player, it is easier for people to cheer for me during matches. This is one of the reasons why I like my surname. The reason why my family got the name Shaw is kind of unclear, but I think this is how it is like. My paternal ancestors hail from a small town in Bihar called Navada. Over there for quite a long time we were businessmen dealing with kerosene oil mainly. They were know to people as shau ji. In Hindi, my surname would be pronounced as ‘s-h-a-u’. My ancestors weren’t much educated so when it came to some office work in Government, they probably wrote the spelling in English as Shaw. Since then we became the Indian Shaw’s. In Bihar, you can actually find some Shaw ji’s. But people outside Bihar aren’t aware of the surname Shaw. So, it’s acceptable for them to get confused.

Most of the people I met have a wrong idea that it is some British, or American surname, cause you sure might have heard of George Bernard Shaw. But, Shaw in India is quite uncommon. Recently, Shaw is India has become quite popular, thanks to the new cricket sensation Prithvi Shaw. I hope a few more Shaw’s get famous and carry on the family name.