Weerasooriya Explained

Weerasooriya වීරසූරිය
Pronunciation:	virasūriya
Meaning:	Brave Hero + Solar Dynasty
Region:	Sri Lanka
Language:	Sinhala
Language origin:	Sanskrit
Origin:	South Asia
Variant:	Weerasuriya

Weerasooriya or Weerasuriya (si|වීරසූරිය|translit=virasūriya) is a Sinhalese surname, with origins tracing back to South of Sri Lanka. The word Weera means brave or hero, and sooriya is meant to denote the ancestry and descent from the Kshatriya Solar Dynasty, which is quite common among Karava, even Govigama Names.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Notable people

• Arnolis Weerasooriya (1854-1888), first Ceylonese Colonel, and Sinhalese member of the Salvation Army
• Channa Weerasuriya, Sri Lankan army officer
• Risira Weerasuriya (born 2000), Sri Lankan cricketer
• Sri Piyaratana Tissa Mahanayake Thero (1826-1907) - Mahanayaka Thero of the Amarapura Nikaya (circa 1860s), and the Sanganayake of the Southern Province
• Srilal Weerasooriya (born 1943), 15th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and a former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan
• Tilak Weerasooriya (1967-2022), Sri Lankan Physician & Academic

Notes and References

1. Book: Raghavan, M. D.. The Karāva of Ceylon: Society and Culture. 1961. K.V.G. De Sīlva. 5, 13, 195. en.
2. Bayly, S. (1983). Caste Conflict and Elite Formation: The Rise of a Karāva Elite in Sri Lanka, 1500–1931. By Michael Roberts. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1982. Journal of Public Policy, 17(3), 519–527.
3. Bartz F. Fischer Auf Ceylon Ein Beitr. Zur Wirtschafts- U. Bevölkerungsgeographie D. Ind. Subkontinents. Bonn: Dümmler in Komm; 1959.