Gurung
A Nepali ethnic surname identifying people of the Gurung community of the Himalayas.
The #9,427 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,491 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Gurung is an ethnonym used as a surname, referring to the Gurung people, an indigenous community of Nepal, especially in the central and western Himalayan region. The name is not typically analyzed like an English occupational or descriptive surname; rather, it marks group identity and ancestry. Its deeper linguistic roots are uncertain in popular surname references, though the community name is associated with Tibeto-Burman language backgrounds.
History
The surname is strongly associated with Nepal and with Gurung migration to Bhutan, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other parts of the diaspora. In South Asian and Himalayan naming practice, surnames like Gurung often function as markers of community and lineage as much as family name in the Western sense. In modern usage, Gurung is one of the most recognizable Nepalese surnames internationally.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Gurung is both a family name and the name of a distinct Himalayan ethnic group with its own language and cultural traditions.