Is Singh a Hindu or a Sikh surname?

Question

I'm just asking because the surname of my Indian twin characters in my book is Singh. In the book, they are supposedly Hindu, but I may have to change it to Sikh, if I want it to be accurate.

Which is which?

Answer 1

Both

Answer 2

Singh is a Sikh name. All male Sikhs in the world keep Singh in their name. It means a lion. Women Sikhs keep Kaur in their name, it means a princess.

Answer 3

Not really sure.

Answer 4

Singh is a very common last name found either in a Hindu or Sikh family. You can use it in either scenario for the book.

Answer 5

Singh has vedic origins & hence has a hindu birth. It originates from 'simha' in sanskrit, meaning lion. When sub-branches of sanskrit originated later on, such as bihari, rajasthani & punjabi languages, it got translated to 'sinha', 'singha' and singh. Sinha (in rajasthan & Madhya P & Bihar) & Singha (in south india & sri lanka) are also in existence currently.

Answer 6

It can be both, all sikhs will have the name singh as either a surname or a middle name. but not all singhs are sikhs. your characters could either be sikh or hindu it is fine either way.

also, fyi sikh women all have the surname or middle name Kaur meaning ''princess''.