Where the name comes from
Garg is a family name found mainly in North India. It traces back to Garga, a sage of ancient India, and the gotra (lineage) named after him. People of the Garg gotra traditionally regard the sage as their common ancestor.
The sage Garga
Garga, also called Gargacharya, appears in several Hindu texts. He is remembered as a scholar of astronomy and astrology, and the Garga Samhita is attributed to his tradition. In the Bhagavata Purana he is the family priest of the Yadavas who performs the naming ceremony of Krishna and Balarama.
A famous descendant
Gargi Vachaknavi, one of the best-known women philosophers of the Upanishads, is named in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Her name, Gargi, marks her as belonging to the Garga lineage.
Garg in the Agrawal community
Garg is also one of the eighteen gotras of the Agrawal (Aggarwal) community, who trace their origin to Maharaja Agrasen of Agroha in present-day Haryana. Families of the same gotra traditionally do not marry within it.
The Garg family today
Today the name is shared by families across India and around the world, in business, public service, medicine, engineering, the arts and many other fields.
Share your family's story
We are collecting family histories, migrations and memories from Garg families everywhere. Submissions will open soon.