Patel (also known as a Patidar) is surname of Indian origin mainly used by people belonging to Hindu Agricultural Communities viz. Kurmi or Kunbi, Hendre, Koli or Koeris, Teli, etc. Muslim Community people of Maharashtra and Gujarat in India and Pakistan also use Patel surname.

The name Patel is found primarily in the Indian state of Gujarat, along with Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka, as well as metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, and Delhi. Within the United Kingdom, it is the twenty-fourth most common surname nationally, and the third most common in the Greater London region. In the US, the surname "Patel" ranks 174 among the top 500 list of most common last names. The majority of those with the Patel last name are Hindus. However, Parsis and Muslims also carry the surname "Patel" (see also Muslim Patel).

Patel represents a section of Gujarati population that were historically farmers and landowners; the term patel itself meaning "village headman". The Patels forms large population in the state of Gujarat in India and also the United Kingdom and the United States. Gujarati Patels were historically landowners and farmers, and traditionally strict vegetarians. The Patel community varies by religion and ideology, with disparate groups having their own samaj (social gatherings) and mandirs. Traditionally Gujarati Patels married within their own gol (circle), though this custom had faded in the modern era. Patel community is a business community.

C. Kumar N. Patel (born 2 July 1938) developed the carbon dioxide laser in 1963; it is now widely used in industry for cutting and welding, as a laser scalpel in surgery, and in laser skin resurfacing. Because the atmosphere is quite transparent to infrared light, CO₂lasers are also used for military rangefinding using LIDAR techniques.

Patel was born in Baramati, India, and received a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree from the College of Engineering, the University of Pune, India and the M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1959 and 1961, respectively. Patel joined Bell Laboratories in 1961, and subsequently became Executive Director of the Research, Materials Science, Engineering and Academic Affairs Division at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he developed the carbon dioxide laser. Patel's discovery, in 1963, of the laser action on the vibrational-rotational transitions of carbon dioxide and his discovery, in 1964, of efficient vibrational energy transfer between molecules, led to a series of experiments which demonstrated that the carbon dioxide laser was capable of very high continuous-wave and pulsed power output at very high conversion efficiencies.

Akshay Kumar (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia on 9 September 1967) is an Indian film actor, producer, comedian and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has nominated for Filmfare Award several times and won two times. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series", which included Khiladi (1992), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi (1997), International Khiladi (1999), and Khiladi 420 (2000), as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994) and Suhaag (1994).

Later he also gained fame for his drama, romance and comic roles. He started becoming known for his performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994) and Dhadkan (2000) as well as drama films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), and Garam Masala (2005) met with acclaim. His success further rose in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. He has thus established himself as one of the leading actors in Hindi cinema.