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.
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
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.
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.
Don't know if you had your baby yet, but I grew up with a girl from India named Sana. Her sister's name is Maimuna. Not sure of the spelling on that but it's pronounced May-Moon-uh and her nn was May. Erigeron, it would be funny if either of them are on MDC!
There are some other names also like:
Esha
Ellora
Tara
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