Kalidasa, following the Adhyatma Ramayana, described a sage Dirghatapas (i.e., one in deep penance) as Gautam. Some other rishis, who were also mentioned as Gautam, were - Devabaagar, Aruni Uddālaka, Svētaketu, Chirakaaree, Kripāchariya, Ekadan, Dvidan, and Tridan. A Gautam gotriya Brahmin named, Indrabhuti of Gochchar village of the ancient Magadha kingdom, who became the chief disciple of Lord Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankara, was called as Gautam Swami. Siddhartha (founder of Buddhism) was born in the Shakya clan that belonged to the warrior (Kṣatriya) caste. He was called Gautama to perpetuate the name of his foster mother Gautami for the love she bestowed on him The current naming practices in India can be traced to the massive advent of European in India during the 18th century. Since the intractability of the Indian naming methods and their meanings confounded the Europeans, they supposedly introduced the naming method of having first name, middle name, and surname in their urge to influence, modernize and develop the Indian system accordingly. References External links Gotras, http://www.salagram.net/Gotras.html. Gautam Swami, http://www.jainbelief.com/Gautam.htm. Stenzler, Adolf Friedrich; Editor. Śrīgautamadharmaśāstram: The institutes of Gautam. Trűbner, London, UK, 1876. Narayanan, Srinivas. The Necessity of Naming: Or What's in A Name: or Rainy Days or An Inquiry Into The Origins of Indian Naming Systems: Or An Empty Mind Is A Devil's Workshop: Or Some Other Catchy Interesting Erudite Title Yet (SOCIETY). http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~snarayan/names. Vedas Dharmaśāstra Saptarishi