The "family name (surname), given name" format used by Telugu people is contrasted from other South Asian ethnic groups and western countries, where family name typically appears last. This might cause confusion to varying degrees within India and the rest of the world.[3]
On some occasions, a caste name is also suffixed at the end. For example, Devula Rama Naidu, where Devula is the family name, Rama is the given name and Naidu is the caste name.[4]
This practice of placing family name first is also seen in Koreans, Japanese[5] Chinese and Hungarians.[2]
Personal names (Given names)
Telugu people are often named after Hindu gods or goddesses that have cultural significance. Often, given names are compound words and followed by a caste suffix including Naidu, Shastry, Rao, Choudhary, Raju, Varma, Reddy, Yadav, Goud, Setty, and Gupta. When the given name is a compound word e.g. Venkata Satyanarayana Naidu, the last word before the caste suffix (i.e. Satyanarayana) is generally used by the callers.
Family names
The majority of Telugu people possess family names called intipēru (lit. 'House name')
Telugu family names are sometimes named after a place or occupation or some historic event in family. For example, Pasupaleti after Pasupaleru, Kondaveeti after Kondaveedu, Kandukuri is named after Kandukuru, or such as the ones ending in wada, palli (village), veedhi (street) or giri (hill), Vungrala which means the person with rings or the maker of rings, Gurram which means trading in horses, Kasu (meaning "coin") may mean jeweler etc. Unlike western names, where family name often takes prominence over given name, in the Telugu-speaking states, a person is well-known by their given name, often without ever hearing their family name.
Telugu family names are often abbreviated and written, e.g., P. V. Narasimha Rao, etc. unlike the western names where given name is often abbreviated.
Further information
on the Telugu surname:
Uppaluri