Ganguly (Bengali: গাঙ্গুলী), also known as Ganguli, Ganguly, Gangulee, Gangoly or Gangopadhyay is a native Bengali surname that is used by Kulin Brahmin group of the Bengali Brahmin caste. The traditional Bengali version of this surname is Gangopadhyay(a) or Gônggopaddhae.
The Gangulys belong to the Kulin Brahmin class and are also classified as Rarhi Brahmins.[1] According to texts, King Adisura invited five Brahmins to settle in the region from Kanauj and designated them higher in social status.[2][3] Multiple accounts of this legend exist; historians generally consider it to be nothing more than myth or folklore, lacking historical authenticity.[4] The tradition continues by saying that these incomers settled and each became the founder of a clan.[5] The five Brahmin clans, which later became known as Mukherjees, Chatterjees, Banerjees, Gangulys and Bhattacharjees, were each designated as Kulina ("superior") in order to differentiate them from the more established local Brahmins.[6]