Find out how popular the last name Bhanot is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bhanot.

Bhanot, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bhanot surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bhanot in America

Bhanot is the 78040th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bhanot surname appeared 245 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bhanot.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bhanot to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bhanot

The surname BHANOT is of Indian origin, specifically from the Punjab region of northern India. It is believed to have originated during the medieval period, sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "bhanu," which means "sun" or "light," and likely referred to a person's occupation or physical characteristics related to the sun or brightness.

BHANOT is a variant spelling of the more common surname Bhanot, which has its roots in various villages and towns across Punjab. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the "Ain-i-Akbari," a 16th-century administrative document commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, which mentions a village named Bhanot in the Sirhind district of present-day Punjab.

In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the surname BHANOT was Bhai Mati Das BHANOT, a devout Sikh who was executed by the Mughal authorities for his resistance against forced religious conversion. His martyrdom is commemorated in Sikh history and literature.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the BHANOT surname appeared in various administrative records and local chronicles of the Punjab region, particularly in areas like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Amritsar. One prominent individual from this period was Sardar Kharak Singh BHANOT, a military leader and chieftain who played a role in the Anglo-Sikh Wars of the 1840s.

In more recent times, the BHANOT surname has been carried by several notable figures, including:

1. Jagat Narain BHANOT (1892-1979), an Indian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and played a significant role in the drafting of the Indian Constitution.

2. Suman BHANOT (1954-1986), an Indian flight attendant who became a national hero after sacrificing her life while saving passengers during a terrorist hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan.

3. Harjit Singh BHANOT (born 1953), an Indian field hockey player who represented India in multiple Olympic Games and was part of the team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

4. Poonam BHANOT (born 1976), an Indian actress and model who has appeared in various Bollywood films and television shows.

5. Aman BHANOT (born 1985), an Indian cricketer who has played domestic cricket for teams like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

While the BHANOT surname is most commonly associated with the Sikh community in Punjab, it has also been adopted by individuals from other religious backgrounds in the region. The name continues to be widely used across India and within the Indian diaspora worldwide.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bhanot

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bhanot.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bhanot was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bhanot has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bhanot was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bhanot, please contact us.

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