title: Kumar
text: Kumar (; Sanskrit: कुमार kumārá) is a title, given name, middle name, or a family name found in the Indian subcontinent, mainly in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, though not specific to any religion, ethnicity, or caste. It is a generic title which variously means prince, son, boy, or chaste. It is the 11th most common family name in the world as of August 2019.
  
  History
  The origin of kumar can be traced back to the early development of Hinduism and its origin in ancient India. The first usage of Kumar was for the Four Kumāras, the four sons of Brahma from the Puranic texts of Hinduism named Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, and Sanat.
  
  In Skanda Purana, the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts, the text is devoted mainly to the leelas of Kartikeya, son of Shiva and Parvati. "Kumar" is used to refer Kartikeya.
  
  Geographical distribution
  As of 2014, 97.3% of all known bearers of the surname Kumar were residents of India. The frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following states and union territories:
  
   1. Himachal Pradesh (1: 9)
   2. Chandigarh (1: 10)
   3. Delhi (1: 11)
   3. Haryana (1: 11)
   4. Bihar (1: 15)
   5. Jammu and Kashmir (1: 16)
   5. Uttar Pradesh (1: 16)
   6. Uttarakhand (1: 28)
   7. Rajasthan (1: 30)
   8. Punjab (1: 39)
  
  Notable people
  
  First name
   Kumar Basnet, (born 1943) Nepalese folk singer
   Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lankan cricketer and International cricket umpire
   Kumar Gandharva (1924–1992), Indian singer
   Kumar Gaurav, Indian film actor
   Kumar Kashyap Mahasthavir, Nepalese Buddhist monk
   Kumar Malavalli, Indian businessman
   Kumar Mangalam Birla, Indian industrialist
   Kumar Pallana, Indian film actor
   Kumar Ponnambalam (1940–2000), Sri Lankan lawyer and politician
   Kumar Pradhan, Nepalese scholar
   Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan, Indian race car driver
   Kumar Rocker, American baseball pitcher
   Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team
   Kumar Sanu, Indian playback singer
   Kumar Shahani, Indian film director
   Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, cricketer who played for England
   Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, AKA K. S. Ranjitsinhji, Indian prince, maharaja and Test cricketer
   Kumar Vishwas, Hindi-language performance poet
  
  Middle name
   Abhas Kumar Ganguly, birth name of Kishore Kumar
   Ajith Kumar Siriwardena, Sri Lankan Briton professor of hepato-pancreatico-biliary surgery
   Akshay Kumar Datta, Bengali writer
   Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, a leading physicist
   Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician
   Ananth Kumar Hegde, Indian politician
   Anil Kumar Jha, (born 1969) Nepalese politician
   Anjani Kumar Sharma, Nepalese surgeon
   Arjun Kumar Basnet, (born 1975) Nepalese marathon runner
   General Arunkumar Vaidya, the former Chief of Indian Army
   Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, Nepalese politician
   Devendra Kumar Joshi, the Indian Chief of Naval Staff
   Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a Bengali singer, composer and producer
   Inder Kumar Gujral, an Indian politician who served as the 12th Prime Minister of India
   Keshav Kumar Budhathoki, Nepali politician
   Madhav Kumar Nepal, Former Prime Minister of Nepal
   Manoj Kumar Pandey, Indian Army officer, recipient of the Param Vir Chakra
   Nirmal Kumar Verma, former senior naval officer
   Pawan Kumar Chamling, an Sikkimese politician who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim
   Pradip Kumar Rai known as Byakul Maila, Nepalese poet
   Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Indian politician who was the leader of the Assam Movement, a former Chief Minister of Assam.
   Prem Kumar Dhumal, chief minister of Indian state 
   Raj Kumar Saini, Indian politician
   Raj Kumar Rao, Indian actor
   Raj Kumar Kapoor, Indian actor, director
   Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, retired Indian Air Force officer, who served as the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force
   Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Indian freestyle wrestler
   Roop Kumar Rathod, an Indian playback singer and music director
   Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DANIPS officer. He currently serves as Deputy Commissioner of Police(DCP), Special Cell, in Delhi Police.
   Santosh Kumar Ghosh, Bengali writer and journalist
   Santosh Kumar Gupta, former Indian Navy admiral, recipient of Maha Vir Chakra
   Satinder Kumar Saini, vice chief of the Indian army
   Selvar Kumar Silvaras (c. 1971–1998), Singaporean convicted murderer
   Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Nepalese diplomat
   Shiv Kumar Batalvi, a Punjabi language poet
   Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Indian television producer and director
   Srinivas Kumar Sinha, Indian military officer
   Sunil Kumar Yadav, Nepalese politician
   Suniti Kumar Chatterji, an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur
   Sushil Kumar Modi, is an Indian politician 
   Tapan Kumar Pradhan, Indian bank, activist and poet
   Tej Kumar Shrestha, Nepalese zoologist
   Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Indian politician
   Vijay Kumar Pandey, Nepalese journalist
   Vijay Kumar Singh, Indian politician and a retired four star general in the Indian Army
   Vineet Kumar Singh, Indian film actor
   Vinod Kumar Shukla, modern Hindi writer
    Vinod Kumar Yadav, Former Chairperson of the Railway Board, First Chief Executive Officer, Railway Board, Indian Railways
   Yogesh Kumar Joshi, 17th and the current Commander, XIV Corps of the Indian Army
   Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, the 36th Chief Justice of India
  
  Last name
   Ajith Kumar, an Indian actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema
   Akhil Kumar, an Indian boxer who has won several international and national boxing awards
   Akshay Kumar, stage name of Indian-Canadian film actor, producer and martial artist, Rajiv Bhatia
   Amit Kumar, Indian film playback singer, actor, and director
   Amitava Kumar, Indian writer, journalist, professor
   Anand Kumar, Indian mathematician
   Anil Kumar, Indian businessman, consultant
   Anup Kumar, Indian film actor
   Ashok Kumar, AKA Dadamoni in Bengali, Indian film actor
   Arun Kumar, Indian politician
   Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Indian pace bowler
   Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Indian politician
   Chetan Kumar, Indian actor
   Darshan Kumar, Indian actor
   Deepak Kumar, several people, including:
   Deepak Kumar (historian), Indian historian
   Deepak Kumar (physicist), Indian condensed matter physicist and professor
   Deepak Kumar (sport shooter), Indian sport shooter
   Dev Kumar, Indian actor
   Digendra Kumar, Indian military officer
   Dilip Kumar, Indian film actor known as the 'Tragedy King' and a former Member of Parliament
   Divya Khosla Kumar, Indian film actress, producer and director
   E. Santhosh Kumar, Indian writer
   Girish Kumar, Indian film actor
   G. V. Prakash Kumar, Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer
   Gulshan Kumar, T-Series music label owner
   Guru Rudra Kumar
   Hiten Kumar, Gujrati film actor
   Inder Kumar, Indian actor
   Indra Kumar, an Indian film director and producer
   Jainendra Kumar (1905–1988), Indian writer
   Jeeva Kumar, Indian kabbadi player
   Jitender Kumar (flyweight boxer), an Indian flyweight boxer
   Jitendra Kumar, Indian film actor
   Kanhaiya Kumar, Indian politician
   Kishore Kumar, Indian film playback singer, actor, lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter
   Manoj Kumar (boxer), Indian boxer who won a gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
   Manoj Kumar, an award-winning Indian actor and director in the Bollywood
   María Teresa Kumar, a political organizer and voting rights activist for Latinos in the United States
   Meira Kumar, an Indian politician and a five time Member of Parliament
   Mukesh Kumar, several people, including:
   Mukesh Kumar (cricketer), Indian cricketer
   Mukesh Kumar (field hockey), Indian field hockey player
   Mukesh Kumar (golfer), Indian golfer
   Navin Kumar
   Nirmalya Kumar, professor and businessman
   Nish Kumar, British comedian
   Nitish Kumar, Indian politician who served as the 22nd Chief Minister of Bihar
   Oil Kumar, aa Indian ganglord and organized crime boss
   Pawan Kumar, several people, including:
   Pawan Kumar (director), Indian film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter
   Pawan Kumar (wrestler), Indian wrestler
   Pradeep Kumar, Indian actor in Hindi, Bengali and English-language films
   Praveen Kumar, Indian medium-pace swing bowler
   Prem Kumar, several people, including:
   Prem Kumar (footballer) (born 1989), Indian footballer
   Prem Kumar (Malayalam actor), Indian film actor in Malayalam films
   Prem Kumar (Tamil actor), Indian film actor in Tamil films
   R Sri Kumar (born 1949), Indian vigilance commissioner
   Raaj Kumar, Indian film actor
   Rajendra Kumar, Indian film actor
   Ratan Kumar, Film actor
   Ravi Kumar (Indian footballer)
   Ravish Kumar, Indian Journalist at NDTV India
   Ritu Kumar, Indian fashion designer
   Rohit Kumar, several people, including:
   Rohit Kumar (footballer), Indian professional footballer
   Rohit Kumar (kabaddi), Indian professional Kabaddi player
   Rohit Kumar (rower), Indian professional rower
   Sai Kumar, Malayalam actor
   Sanjay Kumar, several people, including:
   Sanjay Kumar (business executive), former CEO of Computer Associates
   Sanjay Kumar (soldier), Indian Army soldier who received the Param Vir Chakra
   Sanjeev Kumar, Indian film actor
   Sejal Kumar, Indian YouTuber
   Shashi Kumar, or Shashikumar, Indian actor and politician
   Sushil Kumar, several people, including:
   Sushil Kumar (wrestler), Indian World Champion wrestler
   Tulsi Kumar, an Indian playback singer for Bollywood films
   Uttam Kumar, Indian (Bengali) cinema actor and contemporary of Dilip Kumar
   Uttar Kumar, famous actor in north India
   Venkatesh Kumar, Hindustani vocalist.
   Vikram Kumar, Indian film director and screenwriter
   Vijay Kumar (sport shooter), Indian champion shooter, Olympic 2012 silver medalist
   Vimal Kumar, Indian badminton player
   Vinay Kumar, Indian cricket player
   Vinay Kumar (pathologist), the Alice Hogge & Arthur Baer Professor of Pathology at the University of Chicago
   Vinoth Kumar, Indian football player
  
  See also
   Kumarbi
   Keyumars
   Yuvraj (disambiguation)
   Arunkumar
  
  Notes
  
  Surnames of Indian origin
  Surnames
  Gujarati-language surnames