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I decided to follow my last name as far back in the tree as I could and in the process I realized that the name was evolving over time. It only took going back a couple of generations to see that the spelling had changed. We spell it Jossy but a few generations ago it was Jossi and a few before that it was Josi. As I was researching this, a website suggested to me that Josi stemmed from Jyotishi (Hindu/Sanskrit). In between Josi and Jyotishi was another variation: Joshi. Both Joshi and Jyotishi have important meanings.
I would like to follow my grandfathers all the way from Jossy to Jossi to Josi to Joshi to Jyotisi and as far back as possible but I could use some help. Anyone else interested in the evolution of the name Jossy/Jossi/Josi?
Here is some info on the meaning of the name:
Joshi (Sanskrit Origin) stems from Hindu surnames derived from Jyotish, meaning 'one who leads us into the light'.
"In Arthashastra (politics and welfare): Jyotiṣī (ज्योतिषी) refers to a type of profession mentioned in the Śukranītisāra 2.128-188.—The Śukranītisāra is a Sanskrit work on ethics by Śukrācārya comprised of four chapters. The second chapter (uvarājādikṛtya, “the duties of the royal princes and the like”) describes a large number of varied topics, eg., it contains observations on the ministers, priests, sacive, treasury, a large number of officers and employees (such as a Jyotiṣī)."
"As defined by Jainism: Jyotiṣī (ज्योतिषी) refers to “stellar (luminary) celestial beings” and represents one of the four classes of Devas, according to the 2nd-century Tattvārthasūtra 4.3. They are named after their vehicle which is endowed with shining light. These are called by the significant general name luminaries or stellar.
Stellar celestial beings (jyotiṣī) are of five subclasses:
suns (Sūrya),
moons (Candra),
planets (Graha),
constellations (Nakṣatra),
scattered stars (Prakīrṇaka).
Where do stellar celestial beings revolve? They revolve in a zone between 790 and 900 yojana above the citra earth. What is the form of the vehicle of the stellar celestial beings? The vehicle i.e. means of conveyance, called vimāna are in the shape of semicircle facing upwards. Do the stellar celestial beings roam? They roam only in the region of human beings (manuṣyaloka) and not beyond.
Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.
Discover the meaning of jyotishi or jyotisi in the context of General definition from relevant books on Exotic India "
"In Marathi-English dictionary: Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary
jyōtiṣī (ज्योतिषी).—m (S) An astronomer or astrologer.
Context information
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Discover the meaning of jyotishi or jyotisi in the context of Marathi from relevant books on Exotic India"
"In Sanskrit dictionary: Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary
Jyotiṣī (ज्योतिषी).—A planet, star, luminary.
-ṣkam Name of the shining peak of Meru.
-ṣkaḥ The चित्रक (citraka) tree.
See also (synonyms): jyotiṣka.
context information
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
"In Hindi dictionary: Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary
Jyotiṣī (ज्योतिषी):—(nm) an astrologer.
In Kannada-English dictionary: Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus
Jyōtiṣi (ಜ್ಯೋತಿಷಿ):—
1) [noun] a man who practices astrology; an astrologer.
2) [noun] (Jain.) a particular class of deities.
context information
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India."
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Source: https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/jyotishi
Source: https://kidadl.com/articles/indian-last-names-with-meanings-and-his...