Mehta is a Khatri Punjabi surname, some Gujratis are also called Mehta.[1]It means 'chief' or 'great' from Sanskrit mahita, which comes from mah- 'to praise or magnify'. In Gujarati it has also come to mean ‘teacher’ and ‘accountant’, probably because teachers and accountants were respectfully so addressed in Gujarat.
Mehtas in Punjab, were usually heads of villages assigned by the King. In recent years, people have dropped their original surnames and taken up "Mehta" as their surname which was a title given to the head of their family.
Guru Nanak's father was called "Mehta Kalu".
Mehtas can belong to Hinduism or Jainism and speak either Punjabi, Hindi or Gujurati.

Notable Mehtas

Notable individuals with this surname include:

• Madan Lal Mehta
  Madan Lal Mehta
  Madan Lal Mehta was a theoretical physicist of Indian origin, known in particular for his work in random matrix theory.-Biography:...
  
  ,*(1932-2006) Well known theoretical physicist in the field of random matrix theory, Relmagra, Udaipur
  Udaipur
  Udaipur , also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is located southwest of the state capital, Jaipur, west of Kota, and northeast from Ahmedabad...
  
  ,India.
• Narsinh Mehta
  Narsinh Mehta
  Narsinh Mehta also known as Narsi Mehta or Narsi Bhagat was a poet-saint of Gujarat, India, and a member of the Nagar Brahmins community, notable as a bhakta, an exponent of Hindu devotional religious poetry. He is especially revered in Gujarati literature, where he is acclaimed as its Adi Kavi...
  
  , (1414 – 1481) well-known poet-saint of Gujarat, India.
• Pherozeshah Mehta
  Pherozeshah Mehta
  Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, KCIE was an Parsi Indian political leader, activist, and a leading lawyer, who was knighted by then British Government in India for his service to the law...
  
  , (1845–1915) India
  India
  India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
  
  n political leader, activist, and leading lawyer.
• Mehli Mehta
  Mehli Mehta
  -Early life:Mehta was born in Bombay, British India to a Parsi family. His involvement in music stemmed from his birth. As a young violinist his main musical influence and inspiration was Jascha Heifetz. A pioneering figure in the Indian musical world, he founded the Bombay Symphony Orchestra in...
  
  , (1908–2002) Indian musician and founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra and father of Zarin and Zubin Mehta
  Zubin Mehta
  Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
  
  .
• Tyeb Mehta
  Tyeb Mehta
  Tayyabb Mehta was a noted Indian painter. He was part of the noted Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, which included greats like F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza and M.F...
  
  , (*1925) Indian painter
• Zarin Mehta, (*1938) executive director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Zubin Mehta
  Zubin Mehta
  Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
  
  's brother.
• Zubin Mehta
  Zubin Mehta
  Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
  
  , (*1936) Indian conductor
  Conducting
  Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
  
   of Western classical music and Zarin Mehta's brother.
• Deepa Mehta
  Deepa Mehta
  Deepa Mehta, LLD is a Genie Award-winning Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire , Earth , and Water , among which Earth was submitted by Indian government for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
  
  , (*1950) Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter.
• Harshad Mehta
  Harshad Mehta
  Harshad Shantila Mehta was an Indian stockbroker. He is alleged to have engineered the rise in the BSE stock exchange in 1992. Exploiting several loopholes in the banking system, Mehta and his associates siphoned off funds from inter-bank transactions and bought shares heavily at a premium across...
  
  , India
  India
  India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
  
  n Stockbroker.
• Gulshan Kumar Mehta
  Gulshan Kumar Mehta
  Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema...
  
  , Indian lyricist.
• Bejun Mehta
  Bejun Mehta
  Bejun Mehta is an American countertenor who performs in operas, recitals, and concerts. He records for Harmonia Mundi.-Early life and family:...
  
  , (*1968) American countertenor
• Ved Mehta
  Ved Mehta
  Ved Parkash Mehta is a writer who was born in Lahore, British India to a Hindu family. He lost his sight at the age of four as the result of an attack of cerebrospinal meningitis...
  
  , Writer
• Vikram Bhagvandas Mehta
  Vikram Bhagvandas Mehta
  Vikram Bhagvandas Mehta is an Indian mathematician who works on algebraic geometry and vector bundles. Together with Annamalai Ramanathan he introduced the notion of Frobenius split varieties, which led to the solution of several problems about Schubert varieties.The Council of Scientific and...
  
  , Indian mathematician.
• Hemant Mehta, American-born Indian Secularism & Atheist, Author, Web Celebrity, Award Winner, and Neuqua Valley High School Math Teacher & Speech Team Coach