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

Palanisamy, 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 Palanisamy surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Palanisamy in America

Palanisamy is the 65424th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Palanisamy surname appeared 303 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 Palanisamy.

The history of the last name Palanisamy

The surname Palanisamy originates from Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. It is believed to have emerged around the 13th century, during the Pandya and Chola dynasties that ruled over the region.

Palanisamy is a combination of two Tamil words: "Palam" meaning "fruit" or "flower," and "Nisamy" derived from the Sanskrit word "Nishami," meaning "night." The name likely referred to someone who worked with flowers or fruits at night, perhaps a gardener or vendor.

Some of the earliest known references to the name Palanisamy can be found in ancient Tamil literature and inscriptions from the Chola and Pandya periods. One notable mention is in the Thiruvachakam, a collection of devotional poems written by the 8th-century Tamil saint and poet, Manikkavachakar.

In the 16th century, during the reign of the Vijayanagar Empire, a Tamil military commander named Palanisamy Pillai was recorded as leading a successful campaign against the Sultans of Bijapur and Golconda.

Another prominent figure with this surname was Palanisamy Velusamy, a 19th-century Tamil scholar and poet who authored several works on Tamil literature and grammar. He was born in 1825 and passed away in 1898.

In the early 20th century, Palanisamy Narayana Iyer was a renowned Tamil playwright and novelist. He was born in 1876 and is credited with introducing the concept of social realism in Tamil literature through his works, which often portrayed the struggles of the lower classes.

During the Indian independence movement, Palanisamy Naicker, born in 1888, was a prominent activist and leader of the Self-Respect Movement in Tamil Nadu. He fought against caste discrimination and advocated for the rights of the oppressed communities.

More recently, Palanisamy Sathyaraj is a well-known Indian film actor who has appeared in numerous Tamil and Telugu movies since the 1970s. He was born in 1955 and is particularly famous for his role in the critically acclaimed film Nayakan.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Palanisamy

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

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 Palanisamy 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.

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 Palanisamy was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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