What Are People From India Called? (Interesting Facts)

In this article, we’ll look at what you would call someone from India.

What Are People From India Called?

The best thing to call someone from India is whatever their name is. But, collectively, people from India are called Indians. If you want to be more specific to a region, you can call them Goans, or Bangaloreans, for example.

Why Are Native Americans Called “Indians”?

The first question this brings up is “What about the people who Americans call ‘Indian’?”.

Sometimes, people who are native to the United States of America are referred to as “Indian”. This is strange as America and India are nowhere near each other.

Well, When America was first discovered, it was so that explorers could find quicker trade routes to India. As most of you are well aware, they did not get to India.

But, they decided to give the various tribes one name, “Indian”.

Despite not being accurate, the name “Indian” has stuck around and is still used today.

Is It Offensive To Call Native Americans “Indian”?

However, some believe that calling these people “Indian” is offensive, they are not from India, and “Indian” was just a name imposed by colonists. Therefore, a name seen as more politically correct is “Native American”.

But, people opposed to the name “Native American” are usually the people who are native to the United States of America. They say that the problem is that a native to Brazil and Canada are technically both “Native American”, yet their culture and lifestyles will be vastly different.

One potential solution could be to call people from India “Asian Indians” and people native to the USA “American Indians”.

Where Does The Word “Indian” Come From?

But, back to the Asian Indians.

I’m sure that right now, some of you will be wondering where the term “Indian” comes from. And it won’t take a genius to figure out that “Indian” comes from the name of their country “India”.

But, what you might not know is that In Greek, “India ” means “Region of the Indus River”. The term “Indus” is from the Tibetan and Sanskrit word “Sindu”.

In these languages, “Sindu” means river or sea.

So, when you call someone “Indian”, you’re saying that they’re from the region of the river river.

What Are People From The Regions Of India Called?

Just like an American from New York is called a New Yorker, and a Briton from Manchester is called a Mancunian, the people from various parts of India also have more local or regional names for themselves.

Of course, India is so big, I could likely write a book on what everyone from each part of India is called. But here’s a quick rundown of some of the more populated parts of India. If you meet an Indian, they may be from one of these places.

• Mumbai: Mumbaikars, Mumbians, Bombayites
• Goa: Goans
• Bangalore: Bangaloreans
• Karnataka: Kannadigas

What Are The Four Ethnic Groups In India Called?

As well as places, India is also home to plenty of races. Just like an American could be caucasian, African American, Hispanic, etc. People from India can belong to several races because it’s so big, India has plenty of room for multiple ethnic groups.

Here are the four ethnic groups who are native to the land which is today known as India.

• Negritos
  These folk have very dark skin. They could easily be mistaken for African.
  
  
• Proto-Australoids
  These folk still have dark skin. However, they are easily recognisable as Indian.
  
  
• Mongoloids
  A Mongoloid is the kind of person you might picture when you hear the phrase “Indian Person”.
  
  
• Mediterranean
  These folk have very light skin. They look more European than they do Indian.

What Are People From India Called In India?

In English speaking countries, people from India are called Indian. But, in India, whilst English is commonly spoken it’s not their only language. Below is a table showing a variety of languages in India, how they would write “Indian”, and how they would pronounce it.

Language Name	How they write “Indian”	How they pronounce “Indian”
Hindi	भारतीय	Bhaarateey
Punjabi	ਭਾਰਤੀ	Bharti
Kannada	ಭಾರತೀಯ	Bhāratīya
Bangla	ভারতীয়	Bharatiya
Tamil	இந்தியர்	Indier
Marathi	भारतीय	Bharatiy
Odia	ଭାରତୀୟ	Bharatiya
Telugu	భారత	Bharatha
Malayalam	ഇന്ത്യൻ	Indian

Conclusion

And now you know everything there is to know about what people from India are called. As a collective, the people from India are called Indians. But, some might prefer to call them “Asian Indians” to make clear you’re not talking about “American Indians”.

This term comes from “India”, which comes from “Indus”, which comes from “Sindu”, which means river.