Vatsyayana is a patronymic meaning “descendant of Vatsa.” While the most famous bearer of the name is the author of the Kama Sutra (Mallanaga Vatsyayana), the gotra itself is an ancient Bhargava lineage closely related to the Vatsa and Srivatsa gotras. Its ritual identity is therefore priestly and Vedic rather than identical with the later erotic-scientific treatise.
Families of the Vatsyayana gotra share the broader Bhargava heritage and the five-rishi pravara structure common to that group. The coincidence of name with the author of the Kama Sutra has sometimes led to popular confusion, but the gotra’s primary identity remains that of a classical Vedic lineage descending from the sage Vatsa within the Bhrigu family.
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Literally "descendant of Vatsa" - a patronymic gotra name, separately also the name traditionally attributed to the author of the Kama Sutra.
No. Gotra and surname are separate systems. Families with many different surnames, across many regions and communities, can share the same gotra, and families with the same surname can belong to different gotras.
Many communities traditionally avoid marriage between people of the same gotra, based on the idea that they share a common patrilineal ancestor. Exact customs vary widely by community and region.