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Picking an Indian Girl's name...

10K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  SherryGonzales 
#1 ·
I'm 4th gen American of European descent and my husband came to the USA from North India to finish school when we met.

I want our kids to be able to put their names on a resume and/or executive office door and not give pause to anyone. I don't want a name that screams Indian OR American, either, but want a name that recognizable/friendly to Indians.

The girl names I like are all frilly, lengthy, or very exotic, and none have a decent nickname.

Example: My favorite Indian girl's name is Karthiaeini. Sigh. I had to look up the spelling again. LOL

Pronounced Kar-tee-ay-inee, and the r is rolled obviously. If I change it to Karthayini or Karthaeni, it's missing a lovely syllable, but is at least easier to pronounce, but still extremely unusual and very intimidating to most Americans.

I looked for a name that is Indian but also from other cultures and also known here in the USA, and the only one I've found that I like is Sonia. But to me it's just not nearly as special, and I don'y want to feel like I am compromising.

Maybe I just haven't found THE name yet. Aside from http://www.indianhindunames.com, any advice on a good source of Indian/sanskrit names would be appreciated.

Any input on how you felt later if you DID decide to compromise on a choosing name for practical reasons is also apprec.
 
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#2 ·
My suggestions are pretty short. Maybe you can indulge your desire for a longer/frillier name w/ the middle name?

I checked some ideas here:

http://www.modernindianbabynames.com/namesearch

Tara?

It's both a common Irish-American name and an Indian girl's name.

Sara?

Also common name in the USA and is also a Hindi girl's name

Ela? [to make the spelling more English, spell it Ella?]

Uma?

Uma Thurman the actress made that name more common in the USA.

I think any of the above names could be combined with Karthaeni and then on an office door or name card could read:

Tara K. ________ or or Sara K. ________ or Uma K. __________

Other places to look:

http://www.indiaparenting.com/babynames/hindu-girl-names.php

http://www.indian-baby-names.in/
 
#12 ·
My suggestions are pretty short. Maybe you can indulge your desire for a longer/frillier name w/ the middle name?

I checked some ideas here:
http://www.modernindianbabynames.com/namesearch

Tara?

It's both a common Irish-American name and an Indian girl's name.

Sara?
Also common name in the USA and is also a Hindi girl's name

Ela? [to make the spelling more English, spell it Ella?]

Uma?
Uma Thurman the actress made that name more common in the USA.

I think any of the above names could be combined with Karthaeni and then on an office door or name card could read:

Tara K. ________ or or Sara K. ________ or Uma K. __________

Other places to look:
http://www.indiaparenting.com/babynames/hindu-girl-names.php

http://www.indian-baby-names.in/
The second URL You have shared in not working better go with this http://www.momjunction.com/names/
 
#3 ·
No idea how "tough" these are to American tongue, just some names I feel "may be" easy :) All of these are people/babies I know who are in USA.

Shahana

Brishti

Toshani

Ariaana

Mayitree

Nupur

Jhumpa

Some other names I feel are less beautiful because they are common, but maybe you like :

Aparna

Riya

Sohani

HTH!
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amy@STL View Post

No idea how "tough" these are to American tongue, just some names I feel "may be" easy :) All of these are people/babies I know who are in USA.

Shahana

Brishti

Toshani

Ariaana

Mayitree

Nupur

Jhumpa

Some other names I feel are less beautiful because they are common, but maybe you like :

Aparna

Riya

Sohani

HTH!
I've always liked Arianna (or any variation of the spelling), but I would avoid any name with the word "hump" in it... that might just be asking to be bullied
winky.gif
 
#6 ·
My second child's name is Nitara. It means "has deep roots." I thought it was fitting given our mixed culture marriage. She always gets compliments on it. Never has it been made fun of, and people mostly say it the right way the first time. Her nicknames are NiNi and Nita, but when she started school I asked her if she wanted to go by a nickname or her full name. She chose to go by her full name because she said, "it's pretty."

My other daughter's name is Abirami-- but we call her Abi. It means "powerful goddess" and it totally fits her. She gets called Abby a lot but it hasn't been a huge deal. She also likes her name a lot. I changed the spelling which translated would have been Abhiraami.

Feel free to copy if you want. :) I actually chose that name in part because I met a person named Sitara and thought it was was lovely. I also like Meena a lot.
 
#7 ·
I am not Indian nor do I have any Indian connection, so I am kind of threadbombing here... I went to high school with an Indian girl named Malini. We're now friends on Facebook and she recently had a daughter and named her Karina. (I'm gonna be entertained if she is on MDC as well and recognizes herself in this post.) I think both their names work well in English and are not difficult for English speakers.

Then there's Indira. Former prime minister, not a bad role model for a little girl. And also not a challenging name in English.
 
#9 ·
Sana is nice! :) I also like Diya-- forgot that one in the last post.
 
#13 ·
Does it have to be of a certain Indian religion? Certain names like Shaheen or Saira would be Indian Muslim or can it be any general Indian name?

I find some Indian names that are common to both Western and Indians

Sheela
Monica
Rita
 
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