Namkaran

Nmkaran is the Hindu Practice of naming the child. Traditionally a ceremony can be held at home or in a temple where the Father whispers the name in the infants right ear after two to three weeks of the child's brith.

Selecting the proper Hindu name is a difficult process. We are providing a list of about hundred names in this page to choose from. It is also a good idea to know the meaning of a Hindu name. This can be found in a Sanskrit dictionary. However a good book to consult is The Penguin Book of Hindu Names by Menaka Gandhi. It has twenty thousand names with their meanings and provides the conventional English spelling of Hindu names. The book is in print and you can order it at any book store. Also at the end of this page a separate link is given to a web site which has more than a thousand names.

Naming a child

This is the name that the child is called by. It depends on the culture and education of the family, and should be auspicious. According to the Grihyasutras, there are five requisites to naming a child:

1. the name should be easy to pronounce and sound pleasant;

2. it should contain a specified number of syllables and vowels;

3. it should indicate the sex of the child;

4. it should signify fame, wealth, or power; and

5. it should be suggestive of the caste of the family.

For example a Brahmin child should have an auspicious name, a Kshatriya child should have a name that suggests power, a Vaishya child should have a name that suggests wealth, and a Shudra child should have a name that indicates his service.

A child is also given three other names which are normally secret or confidential. They are acccording to the constellation of birth, according to the month of birth (Chaiti etc.) and according to the family deity.

A

adhir, adi, aditya, ajit, amar, amarjit, amit, amita, anadi, anita, anjali, anup, anupam, anupama, apu, arun, aruna, arup, arupa, ashok, ashoka, asim, asit, atul, atula, avay, avi, avimanyu, avishek,

B

babul, badal, bahuguna, bahula, bakul, bakula, baladeva, balakrishna, balaram, bali, bani, barsha, barun, baruna, basabi, basanta, benimadhava, bhadra, bhagvati, bhagya, bhakti, bharadwaj, bhima, bimal, biman, bindu, binod, binoy, bipul, biswajit,

C

chaita, chaitali, chaitanya, chaiti, chand, chanda, chandra, chandrashekhar, chinmoy, chitra, chitralekha, chuni,

D

devi, durga, diksha, dikcha, dola, divya, devajit, devjani, daya, din, dinbandhu, deva, devjani, darpan,

E

ekanantha, eka,

F

fani, falgun, falguni,

G

garuda, geeta, gaja, ganga, gaya, gajanan, ganesh, guni, gita, gayatri, gopa, gopinath, govinda, guru,

H

hans, hansmukh, hasi, hemanta, hemanti, hemayanti, hira, hiren, hridaya,

I

indra, indira, indrajit, ipsita, indrani, indranil,

J

jagriti, jamuna, jas, jasbindar, jit, jitendra, jitu, jugal, jwala, jyoti, jyotirmai,

K

kamal, kamala, kamalesh, kanai, karuna, kaushik, kautilya, kaveri, kavi, kaviraj, kavita, keshava, keshta, khusi, kiran, kiran, kirti, kripal, krishna, kriti, kritivasa, kuber, kumar, kumari, kushan, kutil,

L

labani, labanya, lakchmi, lakkhi, lalit, lalita, lalu, lok, loknath, lokpal

M

madanmohan, madhab, madhu, madhusudan, maharshi, mahavir, mahesh, manik, manohar, menaka, mithun, mohan, mridula,

N

nandita, nani, nanigopal, narayan, narayani, nidhi, nikhilesh, nila, nilam, nilkanta, nirmal, nirmalendu, nita, nitesh, nritya,

O

om, omprakash

P

panna, parmeswar, patanjali, phani, phalgun, phalguni, pratap, priti, priya, priyatam, priyatama, purush, purushottam, pushpa, pushpita,

R

rani, ranjan, ranjana, ranjita, rasmi, ravi, ravindra, ravindra, renu,rini, rishi, ritin, roma

S

sujata, sulekha, suman, sundar, sundari, suparna, suresh, sureshwar, surma, susama, susmita, suvarna, suvendu,

T

tanuja, tapti, tarun, taruna, tej, tejpal, tista, tribeni, tripura,

U

uday, uma, urmila,

V

vayu, varsha, varun, varuna, vasabi, vasanta, venimadhava, vadra, vagya, varadwaj, vidyut, vijay, vijaya, vimla, vishnu, vivek,

Y

yadav, yadu,

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