Family name origins & meanings
- Indian (Tamil Nadu) : Hindu (Brahman) name, aiyangār in Tamil, from aiyan ‘sage’, ‘priest’, ‘Brahman’, ‘lord’ (from Indo-Aryan ayya, from Sanskrit ārya ‘Aryan’, ‘master’, ‘preceptor’, or ‘father-in-law’) + the Telugu honorific plural suffix -gāru. The Telugu form of the word is ayyagāru, meaning ‘father’, ‘sir’. The Tamil word ayyan consists of the noun stem ayya + the masculine singular suffix -n. The Iyengar Brahmans are a prominent community from Tamil Nadu and votaries of the god Vishnu; only some members of the community use Iyengar as a surname.