How many gotras are there among hindus?what are their names?is Sharma the gotra

Question:

How many gotras are there among hindus?what are their names?is Sharma the gotra of Mishra or vice versa?

the surname as per my knowledge is a sub caste in hindus. the main caste is the gotra of a person i.e. descendency of hindu sages, such as atri, vaishist, etc.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: A gotra is the lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth. In most cases, the system is patrilineal and the gotra assigned is the gotra of the person's father. Other names used to refer to it are Vansh, Vanshaj, Bedagu, Purvik, Purvajan, Pitru. An individual may decided to identify his lineage by a different gotra, or combination of gotras. For example Lord Rama was Surya Vansh , also known as Raghu Vansh. This was because Lord Rama's great-grandfather Raghu became famous.

List of gotras compounded by caste are as follows:

Brahmins
vysyas
Khatris
Nairs
Rajputs
Jats
Kongu Vellala Gounder's
Tuluva/Malayalees

Refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_got... for a list