[RegulatorCountry]

He's white, his mother is a British society gal and he was adopted by her second husband, who was some variety of eastern religious, Buddhist or something. So that's where the surname comes from. As for “Ashoka,” I don't know. Sounds American Indian to me.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

Ashoka Maurya (Sanskrit: अशोक मौर्य), (304–232 BCE), commonly known as Ashoka and also as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE.[1] Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE.[2] He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. "Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity."[5

[Flash Bazbeaux]

“Asok” or “Asoke” is the same name. There’s a major street in Bangkok, Thailand called “Soi Asoke”.

Asok is an Indian intern in the Dilbert comic strip.[1][2] His first appearance was March 18, 1996.[3] He is a brilliant graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology.[4][5]

The character is named after a friend and co-worker of strip creator Scott Adams at Pacific Bell.[6] “Asok” is a common Indian name, though it is usually spelled “Ashok” and pronounced “Ah-shok”.

The name is an English variation of the name of the first major emperor of India, Emperor Ashoka.

[Bluebird Singing]

I think you got that backwards. His mother ran off with the monk when she was sixteen. This was her first marriage.

The monk had chronic illness, and was treated by the doctor, Levy. She had an affair with the doctor while still married to the monk, and got pregnant with Ashoka.

The monk adopted Ashoka as his own. Apparently, she eventually divorced the monk, and is now married to the doctor, the father of Ashoka.

[PghBaldy]

It is Indian-Indian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka