Patel
A Gujarati surname historically tied to village leadership and landholding, now one of the most widespread South Asian surnames worldwide.
The #95 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,343 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Patel is a South Asian surname most commonly linked to the Gujarati word patel, a title historically used for a village headman, landholder, or local revenue officer. The term is usually explained as coming from a word for a field or piece of land, with the surname preserving an old status or office rather than a personal nickname. In practice, it became hereditary in many communities, so it now functions as a family name as well as a marker of ancestral social role.
History
The surname is especially common among Gujarati communities in western India, and it spread widely through migration to East Africa, the United Kingdom, North America, and elsewhere in the 20th century. In many families it reflects an inherited community title that later became a fixed surname. Because of its large modern bearer count, Patel is now one of the best-known Indian surnames globally.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Patel became so common in some diaspora settings that it is often used as a shorthand example of a Gujarati surname in English-language writing.
From the historical record
“Batley, Battle, Beadle, Beetle, Bettell, Bethell, Beatley, Betteley, Padley, Paddle, Pattle, Patullo Pedley, Petley — Mod. German Padel, Patel, Pedel — French Badel, Batel, Bataille, Bedel, Betille, Betail, Pataille, Petel. patronymics. Eng. Batting, Bedding — French Bedenc.”
— The Teutonic Name-System applied to the family names of France, England and Germany