Shett

Shetty is a name given to the Daivadnyas popularly termed as sonars in Konkani residing on the west coast of India ,some other communities in west coast of India and some trading communities in North India.It is also an common surname used in Coastal Karnataka.

The word Shetty is derived from the Sanskrit word Śreṣṭha (Devanagari: श्रेष्ठ) or Śreṣṭhin (Devanagari: श्रेष्ठीन्) meaning superior, Prakritised as Seṭhī (Devanagari: सेठी), and then Śeṭ (Devanagari: शेट) or Śeṭī (Devanagari: शेट) in modern Indo-Aryan dialects. Generally, the title shetty (derived from word srestha) is used by trading communities (vaishyas) this pattern is followed throughout Indian subcontinent.

The guilds of the traders, merchants and their employees in ancient in India, were called as Śreṇī, and the head of these guilds were called as Śreṣṭha or Śreṣṭhīn.

Various Romanised versions found during the colonial period include Chatim, Xete, Xetim, Xatim, Chati, Sette etc. Alternatively it is also spelled as Shet, Sait, Shetty nowadays.

Before the Goa Inquisition, Daivajna men used the titles Sethi etc. after their first names. e.g. Virupa Chattim, Gana Sethi etc. Father's name was used as a middle name. Daivajna diaspora started using village names after their first names to distinguish themselves from other communities. Daivajna people still in Goa still use to continue it as an honorific title. Due to various socio-economic reasons Daivajna people migrated from Goa to other places. Some started using Shetty as their surname just to distinguish themselves from others (especially in South Canara, Shimoga and in some parts of North Canara.

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