Tiwari

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Tiwari is a Hindu Brahmin surname found mostly in the Northern and Central parts of India and Nepal. Its other forms are Tewari, Tewary, Tiwary and Tewarey. It is derived from Tripathi which literally means reading three times.

While Tiwari is common in the states Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Tripathi is used in (in addition to these states)in Orissa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra. The density of Tiwari (and Tripathi) is more among Kanyakubja and Saryupareen Brahmins.

The popular belief is that those Brahman families who specialized in all the four vedas came to be known as Chaturvedis ( chatur means four in Sanskrit), those who specialized in three vedas came to be known as Trivedis or Tripathis ( Tri- means three in Sanskrit), Dwivedis specialized in two vedas ( Dwi- meaning two ), those who only studied the vedas but didn't specialize in them came to be known as Pathaks i.e the readers and those who specialized in the Upanishads were known as Upadhyayas.^{[citation needed]}

Shuklas (meaning white or bright), Pandeys (meaning pundit) and Mishras (Mixed knowledge of Vedas and Puranas) were specialized in all the vedas and puranas. However, the Shukla brahmins were gurus (teachers) by profession, thus the most respectable in society. Mishra Brahmins were preachers by profession, thus they usually lived a wealthy and respectable life in society. Pandey Brahmins were into tantra, mantra and yoga, they were respectable but usually lived away from society.^{[citation needed]}