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Dwivedi/Duvedi or Dubey/Dube or Dave is a Hindu surname. Dwivedis belong to the Brahmin caste, and belong to the Pancha Gauda classification of Brahmins (i.e. north India brahmins). Dwivedis can belong to any of these gauds: Saraswat, Kanyakubja & Saryupareen, Maithil, Gauda, and Utkala Brahmins. They can be commonly found amongst Gotra’s such as Bharadwaj, Kashyap, Vashishth, Shaandilya etc
Etymology
A commonly accepted etymology is that Dwivedi means a person who has the knowledge of two Vedas.
There exists a conflicting view since Dwivedi's are given higher status than Chaturvedis or Chaubeys. In eastern part of Uttar Pradesh sources refer that Dwivedi is derived from a combination of the words 'Daiv' and 'Vedi'; 'Daiv' means 'spiritual, related to God' and 'Vedi' means 'one who knows about'. Thus Dwivedi means 'a person who knows about God'. Similarly, Trivedi never means one who has learnt three Vedas. According to Hinduism, a Brahmin must read all the four Vedas. Trivedi comes from 'Tri' meaning 'all the three (time periods - past, present, and future)' and 'Vedi' meaning 'one who knows '. Thus Trivedi means 'one who has knowledge about all the three times, the past, the present, and the future. In ancient and medieval times a "Jyotishi" (astrologer) was called Trivedi. In the same manner, 'Chaturvedi' comes from 'Chatur' meaning 'all four (directions - North, South, East, West)'. Thus, 'Chaturvedi' means 'one who has knowledge from all over the world, or one who has universal knowledge'.
Distribution
Dwivedi's (or Duvedi's or Dubey's) are mostly found in, or originate from the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Kashmir, Himachal pradesh and Punjab. People of the surname Dwivedi can be found in Deoria, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Azamgarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Fatehpur, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Faizabad, Mathura, Agra of Uttar Pradesh. In Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Mukundpur(Amarpatan, Distt. Satna), Satna, Rewa of Madhya Pradesh; and Darbhanga, Samastipur of Bihar. In Hoshiarpur and Nangal of Punjab there are some villages (e.g. Johal, Tanda Urmar, Budhi Pind, and Maida Majra, Baas Village, Dubeta Colony & Nangal Township in Nangal) where brahmins are predominantly of surname Dwivedi or Duvedi.
Notable individuals with the surname Dwivedi can now be found throughout India, many holding key political, business and arts positions in New Delhi and Mumbai. In Gujarat Dwivedi or Dubey are known as Dave.
Outside of India, many Dwivedis can be found in Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
Individuals with the surname Dube can also be found in the Indian diaspora in Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.