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

Sethi, 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 Sethi surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sethi in America

Sethi is the 11836th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sethi surname appeared 2,645 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Sethi.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sethi 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 Sethi

The surname Sethi has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, where it is believed to have emerged in the 15th century CE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word 'seth,' which means a wealthy merchant or banker. The name is commonly found among the trading communities of northern India, particularly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

The Sethi name is closely associated with the Khatri caste, a community traditionally engaged in trade and commerce. The Khatris played a pivotal role in the flourishing trade networks of the Mughal Empire, and many Sethi families rose to prominence as successful merchants and financiers during this period.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Sethi name can be found in the chronicles of the Mughal court, where a prominent merchant named Lal Chand Sethi is mentioned as a trader in the 16th century. Another notable figure was Rai Anirudh Chand Sethi, a wealthy banker from Delhi who lived during the reign of Aurangzeb in the 17th century.

Throughout history, the Sethi name has been closely linked to various place names and older spellings. For instance, the town of Sethipur in Uttar Pradesh is said to have been founded by a Sethi family, and the name may have evolved from the Persian word 'sethi,' which means a landowner or a lord.

Among the notable individuals bearing the Sethi surname, one can mention:

1. Amar Singh Sethi (1871-1949), an Indian freedom fighter and political activist from Punjab.
2. Manmohan Singh Sethi (1912-1988), an eminent Urdu poet and literary critic from Uttar Pradesh.
3. Rajendra Kumar Sethi (1925-1999), an acclaimed Hindi novelist and short story writer from Rajasthan.
4. Gobind Behari Lal Sethi (1924-2008), a distinguished Indian painter and artist from Uttar Pradesh.
5. Jaspal Inder Singh Sethi (born 1954), an Indian economist and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University.

The Sethi name has a rich historical legacy, deeply rooted in the trading traditions of northern India and the cultural heritage of the Khatri community. Throughout the centuries, individuals bearing this surname have made significant contributions across various fields, including literature, art, and academia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sethi

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!