Chettiar

Chettiar (also spelt as Chetti and Chetty) is a title used by many traders, weaving, agricultural and land-owning castes in South India, especially in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Etymology
Chettiar/Chetty is derived from the Sanskrit word (Devanagari: श्रेष्ठ)  or   (Devanagari: श्रेष्ठीन्) meaning superior, Prakritised as  (Devanagari: सेठी), and then  (Devanagari: शेट) or  (Devanagari: शेटी) in modern Indo-Aryan dialects.