How did Mishra come to South India? In Sri-Vaishnavism, persons are mostly known by Tamil epithets. E.g., Ramanujacharya's disciple, Koorathazhvan's name was Srivatsanka Mishra & yAmunAcArya's teacher Manakkal Nambi's name was rAma Mishra?
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Walter Neevel in his PhD thesis opines that the term "Mishra" meaning 'mixed' was a title used to refer to Brahmanas who subscribed to multiple schools of thought. In the case of Rama Mishra, Neevel felt that it was probably due to his following of both Vedanta and Pancharatra schools.
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Some South Indian Brahmins TODAY have a last name of Sharma. Ramanuja's father is said to have been named Somayaji (performer of the Somayaga ritual). So a "Mishra" at the time of Ramanuja, while rare, was perfectly possible in Tamil Nadu.
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Could they be north Indians?? – Jaskirat Singh Aug 12 '23 at 17:09
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kings in the South and Bengal encouraged immigration of Brahmins from Aryavarta. The Vadama sect of Iyer Brahmins claim they are from the Narmada region. So it is possible. But I don't know if the northern origin corresponds to names that sound north Indian. @jaskiratsingh – S K Aug 12 '23 at 17:23
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One more comment is that Mishra, Shastri are title which persons would earn similar to how someone earns a degree. The great scholar Bhaskararaya got the title of Vajpeyi in a similar way. – Aditya Dwivedi Aug 12 '23 at 18:14