Gotra register

A gotra names the rishi a family traces its descent from. Two people of the same gotra are held to share that ancestor, so a marriage between them is prohibited — the sagotra rule.

It is asked before horoscopes are compared, because no agreement between two charts outweighs it.

One lineage is often romanised several ways, and two spellings can hide that two families share a gotra. This register keeps one spelling for each.

Family name is the house a person appears under; several family names may share a gotra, and the prohibition follows the gotra.