Neeta is due any day and seeks an Indian name that works well in an English speaking world. Let ‘s help her out.
I’ve been following your blog for a bit now, and was wondering if you could help me out in my own naming quest. My baby will be half Indian (from India!) and half-American, and I’m looking for a name that represents both cultures – or at least one that is easy to pronounce in both languages! Growing up in the U.S. with an Indian name, I know the difficulties of having an “ethnic” name – people pronouncing it incorrectly or claiming it’s too hard to say – and honestly, I embrace. It’s the price of carrying something of my culture as part of my identity, and I don’t mind gently correcting people. My husband, on the other hand, grew up with a basic all-American name and experienced the other end of the spectrum – the awkwardness of not wanting to pronounce someone’s name for fear of getting it wrong, and the ambiguity in terms of gender that often accompanies foreign names. He’s also worried about putting our baby through the teasing or bullying that might go along with an Indian name, especially when he or she might not look very Indian and won’t have an Indian last name!
So to win him over I’ve been on the hunt for an Indian name that looks easy to pronounce and won’t scare my poor husband away. Names that are either common enough in the U.S. so that many people will already know how to pronounce it (we live in a big city with a relatively large Indian population) or one that is easy enough to guess phonetically. The biggest problem I’ve come across is the difference in how a name looks like it should be said vs. how it’s actually said. Case in point: Ravi is a really common Indian name, but most people in the U.S. pronounce it Rah-vee when it’s actually Ruh-vee.
A couple that match the criteria (aka asking hubby how he would pronounce a name corresponding to how I would pronounce it) include Shreya, Leena, Rohan, Neil. Hubby really likes Maya, but I have a little cousin with that name. One that I really like is Naina, but it makes poor hubby cross-eyed every time he attempts it. Are there any Indian names that you can think of that you have found easy to say? Or any advice in choosing an ethnic name? Our last name is two syllables, and starts with an H.
Thanks so much!
Neeta
Neeta, thank you so much for this incredible challenge! I fear I’m not *entirely* up to the task, as I read not a lick of Sanskrit, nor any other language native to India, but– I’m not afraid to try. Here are some names that seem like they would work fairly seamlessly in English? My criterion was simply that they be attractive (to me) and relatively simple.
Hope you find a gem in here. Please let me know which names would not be pronounced the same in both countries, and as always readers, we welcome your ideas.*
Amala- Sanskrit, “clean, pure.”
Anjali- Sanskrit, “offering.”
Asha- Sanskrit, “wish, desire, hope.”
Avani- Sanskrit, “earth.”
Indira- Sanskrit, “beauty.”
Kala- Sanskrit, “art form, beauty.”
Kumari- “In the Hindu epic ’Mahabharata’ Kumari is the wife of the warrior Bhima. This is also another name of the Hindu goddess Durga.”
Mina- Sanskrit, “fish.”
Mira- Sanskrit, “sea, ocean.”
Priya- Sanskrit, “Priya.”
Sashi- Transcription of Shashi, which refers to the moon and literally translates to “having a hare.”
Sundara- Sanskrit, “beautiful.”
Yamuna- Name of an Indian river.
Veena/Vina- Sanskrit, “lute.”
Akash- Sanskrit, “open sky, space.”
Amar- Sanskrit, “immortal.”
Anand- Sanskrit, “Happiness, bliss.”
Lochan- Sanskrit, “the eye.”
Mahesh- Sanskrit, “great lord.” Another name for Vishnu.
Raj- Sanskrit, “king”, “prince.”
Rakesh- Sanskrit, “lord of the full moon day.”
Sunil- Sanskrit, “very blue.”
Vasant- Sanskrit, “brilliant”, “spring.”
*All meanings from Behindthename.com
For more like the image above, please see my Scavenger Hunt at my other new blog, The Itsy Factor.
{ 77 comments… read them below or add one }
I know an Indian man whose name is Nikhil, but he is usually called “Nik” (like “Nick” from Nicholas).
His (also half-Indian) son is named Rajan, pronounced RAHJ-n (like the first half of Roger + n).
Great suggestions! I have a couple more to add as I have some dear friends who are Indian and live in the US and have chosen beautiful names for their kids. They named their daughter Pritika. I’m assuming it’s a traditional Indian name and I’ve always thought it was lovely and not hard to pronounce or understand. Their son is Rajvir (nn: Raj) and I love that too. Incidentally his name is Pawan, also easy to pronounce and a very nice name.
I grew up in an area with a large Indian population, and I know some of my friends had an easier time with getting their names pronounced correctly than others. My friend Geetanjali got so tired of people mispronouncing her name that she went by Joey.
Here’s some names that I remember that were typically pronounced correctly:
Meera
Devika
Lina
aww, Geetanjali is a hard one! I hope my little one doesn’t reject our choice, but I’d understand if he/she felt the need to go by another name to fit in. Lina (spelled Leena) is one of our top choices, and Meera would be as well, if I didn’t have a cousin with that name
Great suggestions, thank you!
What happened to you Neeta? When did you have the baby? What name did you finally choose? I’m American and my husband is Indian and our 4th child is due in less than a month. Our 3 children are: Anamika (Mika), Krishen, and Chandra. Haven’t decided on the 4th, yet.
What About Bodhi for a boy? One of my all-time faves!
I’m an American married to an Indian and speak a fair bit of Hindi. “Bodhi” in Hindi means a cowlick that makes your hair stick up at the crown! So might not work too well in a Hindi-speaking crowd!
*Awesome*
I worked with an Indian-American woman named Nandita, I don’t think anyone ever had trouble with her name. Looks like it means “happy”.
Nandita is very pretty, but it’s definitely not pronounced how it looks: nun-di-tha. T’s and A’s generally don’t cross over between the two languages
I’m half Indian half Swedish, and was given the Indian name Tara. Super easy for everyone, although Americans often initially pronounce it “Tera” as opposed to “Taara” with longer A. After the first correction though, not a problem!
Some of my half-Indian cousins and Indian friends with easily understood names are: Rakesh, Arjun, Rohan, Nikhil, Prashant, Kiran, Manish, Aroon/Arun, Rumi, Anita, Melalie, Kavita, Priya, Meena, Divya, Anima, Nina, Uma, Lali.
I don’t think you should be too worried about Ravi either. Random people may not instinctively get the “Ruh”, but people you interact with more than once will be fine with it if you tell them how to say it. Got a cousin by the name and he’s doing fine!
I love your name! May we steal it?
It honestly is quite the perfect mix of slightly American but also slightly Indian. Kudos to your parents!
You’re right in that most names just take a gentle correction before people accept it, but I’ve definitely had people say flat out to me “I can’t pronounce your name, do you have a nickname?” …and I’m pretty sure mine’s not all that hard, lol. Love your suggestions, I will definitely go through the list with DH! Thanks!
Padma?
Bindi?
I know a pair of Indian sisters called Pun@m and Ann@. Does Anna have any connection to India? Maybe Harpreet, nn Harper would work if that’s your syle.
While I am not Indian, my husband and I are cross-cultural too so this is a topic dear to my heart!
From your list I really like Neil. I went to high school with an Indian boy named Neil and he loved it.
I have a friend from India named Neha, what about that? She doesn’t have any problems with her name, though you could respell it Neyha for further clarification. I do see your reluctance to use a name that will not be pronounced correctly; I have a colleague (male) named Nanda and people are always mispronouncing his name to rhyme with ‘nan’ like ‘Nancy’ or ‘Amanda’ when it’s really a long ‘ah’ sound like the word ‘on’. Now I’m just babbling, sorry!
I also like Liz’s suggestion of Bodhi, that’s an awesome name! And Indira for a girl is just gorgeous. Good luck
Neha is a great suggestion! I will definitely add it to the list – it’s simple and I don’t think it will be mispronounced in either culture. Thank you for your suggestions!
This really caught my attention! I have two cousins who are sisters named Neha and Neeta.
How about Monika, Shona, Hana for a girl or Hari for a boy? Good luck deciding, and congratulations!
I grew up in a fairly jewish and catholic part of New York state. I didn’t know many American Indians but those I did know, I absolutely love their names.
Vipin and Rupi, siblings, obviously abbreviated versions of their much longer birthright names.
Julia
I love Indira. I find it incredibly beautiful! And it has the adorable nn of Indy.
I have a half-Indian friend named Anjuli, nn: Ani. Her sis is Sonia. I think both names (and the nn) are beautiful. They grew up in a tiny rural town full of mostly white folks, and I think Anjuli was hard for their community to pronounce, so she became Ani. Shouldn’t be hard in a metropolitan city with a large Indian population though.
Sonia is one we considered and DH rejected because of a girl he knew with the same name in elementary school – apparently it wasn’t a good memory. Anjuli or Anjali is one of my favorites, but as you mentioned, it’s a bit difficult to pronounce. Thanks for your suggestions!
Naina is beautiful. I also like Leela, which apparently means “playful” or “divine play”. Also like Priya, Mira and Raj. I must say, I find many Indian names so lovely.
I think Amala, Mina, and Mira are the most American-sounding names listed. Amala would be great with the popularity of Amelia and Amalia on the rise. I think Asha is a great name, and know several Priyas, so that name would probably be easily recognized.
I really like Leena and think Neil is very familiar.
Some of my favorite easy-for-Americans-to-say-and-perhaps-a-bit-American-sounding girl names (pardoning my limited knowledge): Padma, Uma, Ojal (and Opal?) Pia, Soma, Prem, Sabal, Anju, Viveca, and Selma.
for boys: Bir, Dev, Sabal, Vir, Eka, Prem, I’m a fan of one-syllable and really simple names.
and what about just an Indian word-name? So many Hindi words *sound* like beautiful names to me. Some meanings that I’d, personally, be interested in to see the translation and whether it’s name worthy: dream, bloom (and other nature names), bear (and any other beloved animals.)
Aren’t there Persian linguistic influences in Hindi? I *really* love the Persian meaning of Julep: water on roses. I think it’s even (pardon the pun) sweeter that it’s a syrupy American drink, but then I have child named after a fruit. This is a stretch, isn’t it? I just so love this name.
I love for boys names like: Sabal Augustine, Vir (or Bir) Leopold, and Prem Augustus.
For girls, names like: Pia Jane. Uma Evelyn, Padma Clementine, Viveca Heloise, Sabal Amadora, Opal Luella, and Selma Cleone.
Another American here, with no real connection to India, but I was thinking about some of my husband’s old T.A.s and which names seemed easy for our western tongues…
Chanda Sarika Kalpana Gita Nila
Naveen Yash Arun Dev Manu Mohinder Kamal Jai Vijay
haha, great idea to pull out old TA names! I’ll definitely run some of these by DH
I completely empathize with your situation! My husband has a somewhat ethnic and gender ambiguous name, which is currently impacting our naming process…
Friends, classmates and colleagues of mine with Indian names include:
Girls:
Roopa (doesn’t this name / girl just sound like fun? she is!)
Priyanka (or Priya) – so pretty!
Gauri (pronounced Gori, yes?)
Bhawna (pronounced BahV-na?) Maybe easier for Americans if it were spelt more phonetically – Bhavna?
Nidhi (really like this one too! this woman is very elegant and stylish)
Pallabi (valedictorian of our class- lovely lady!)
Sahira (reminds me of the Sahara desert…)
Jhumpa – author of, The Namesake – I think she’s pretty well known here, yes?
Boys:
Vivek
Ameay (pronounced A-may-ah?)
Varot (this might actually be Thai, though?)
Vijay
Ravi
Ajay
Rumi – after the poet (who, was a man), but another naming site says this is Japanese, a girls name, and means ‘beautiful’ – Liz?
Gogol – from the movie, The Namesake
IMHO, I think these names are fairly easy to pronounce and some definitely sound more / distinctly masculine and feminine (though, that is truly a stereotypical thing to say – that vowel / softer sounds are feminine and harder / rough sounds are masculine – I’m cringing that I actually even typed this!) However, I think my favorites are (f) Sahira and (m) Ravi. Congrats on your pregnancy and all the bests with your name search!
Love your suggestions! And your pronunciations are dead on – especially Bhavna/Bhawna/Bhauna, which are all variations of spelling the same name (one of my aunt’s names, actually
).
Thanks! Bhavna is a lovely name! So is Neeta : )
I love Elisabeth’s suggestions of Amala, Anjali, Asha, Avani, Indira, Mina, Priya, Amar and Sunil. I also love some other readers suggestions including Pritika, Lina, Uma, Selma, Sahira, Ravi, Rumi and Naveen. So many beautiful names to choose from…
I used to babysit a little Indian girl named Prashani, and I always loved her name as well.
Good luck with your decision!
Great suggestions! I grew up with a girl named Asha who had a very common Irish last name (I believe her mom was Indian). I think that’s a beautiful name and I also love Priya. My favorite boys’ names are Rakesh and Vasant. Also, two of my husband’s co-workers are Rajat and Ravneet. Good luck!
oh, wow! Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! We’re leaning towards Leena for a girl, but I really like the sound of Asha. Asha Bhosle is a famous Indian singer, and a great person to be named after
Boys have been harder, but Akash sounds pretty good. Neil would be easiest, but I’m not particularly fond of it.
Elizabeth, thank you so much for your suggestions – you’ve happened to stumble upon one of my favorite girl names, Anjali, but unfortunately, it’s not pronounced anything like it looks
It’s pronounced un-jal-ee, rather than the angel-ee that it probably would be mistaken for. You’ve also found some of my cousins’ names (Mina, Mira, Priya), which are all easily pronounceable but we obviously can’t use (this is what happens when you have older cousins/siblings! They take all the good names 
).
Amar, Anand, and Avani have the same issue as Anjali- the a’s are supposed to be pronounced more like a u, basically an “uh” sound. So Amar would be uh-mur. A’s are hard… so are t’s, because they are meant to be pronounced “th” – like in my own name, it’s pronounced nee-tha, or even nee-thuh, though the difference in sound between the -a and the -uh ending isn’t very prominent.
I will definitely keep you all updated on which name we choose (only a few more days now!), and if anyone else has suggestions, please feel free to add on to the list!
And I love so many of the A names!
Glad you’re finding some that you like. Too bad your family swiped so many of the good ones.
I used to work with a girl named Anjali and we said it something like AHN-jah-lee. Guess that wasn’t quite right, but I always loved saying her name. Sundara was another favorite of mine on a girl that I worked with, but she wasn’t Indian.
Drawing on my teaching experience – I knew my memory of kids’ names would come in handy one day. Here are some names I can recall: for the girls, Priya is a lovely name, as is Mina. But the girl I knew was Meena, which I think is kind of cute. Leya, Amritha (I think the h was silent), Yasmina. For the boys, Bodhi, Deven, Venu (Vuh-NOO), Rohan (Ro-HAN). None of their friends or teachers seemed to have any problems pronouncing these.
All the best at this exciting time!
Ooh I just remembered – Arpana, Radha and Chandra (girls) and boys Manu and Arun.
My friend’s daughter was in the same situation as Neeta. They now have three daughters: Inara Rain, Ananda Jordan and Krisha Faith. I love all of their choices. They are pregnant again, one last time, with a boy due in May, and are totally stumped this time. They want to follow the same desire as Neeta describes, to come up with and Indian name that is American friendly. The husband is Nik (Nikhil). I love the suggestions for boy’s names in these comments and am passing them along to this couple.
My favourite Indian boy name is Shalya.
There are a few people of Indian heritage at my school, and overall they have really great names! Here are some (sorry for any repeats):
Girls -
Shivani
Anisha
Boys -
Naveen
Raj
Pavan
I have almost nothing to add either, not being Indian and probably mispronouncing every Indian name. I have a friend named Neelesh and I don’t think he ever had too many issues with pronunciation in our very non-multicultural hometown. His brother Nandan, did though. If you don’t like Neil, maybe Neelesh?
I also have a friend with the name Neelesh, and I don’t think he’s had too many pronounciation issues either. Its a lovely name.
I’m sure most anything I could say has been suggested, but I didn’t find the name I’ll be suggesting:
Aishie
It’s a take on Aisha or Asha, not certain, but I haven’t actually seen it anywhere other than on a friend who is half American and half Indian
For us Americans it’s pretty easy to guess: AYE-she. 
And she says she hasn’t had many problems with it 
I grew up in a largely Caucasian area and these were the names I did encounter:
Girls: Areefa, Rujuta, and Anuja (aside from Aishie)
Boys: Raj (I think it was short for something, but I’ve never seen what) and Debu
As an American, I was able to get Raj, Areefa and Debu correctly the first time. The other two female names…well…they still sort of stump me.
Hope it helps!
I think my favorites are Indira, Asha, or Leena (for a girl).
By the way, I really do like Avani, especially when it has that nice “uh” sound at the beginning–I think I’d prefer it to a long a sound.
I’m also a south asian married to an American! We named our daughter Maya Siri
May I suggest Sarala, Ekhta, Ashira, Sashi or Insha for a girl?
Dev, Rahul, or Rajiv for a boy?
How about Dylan for a boy? In Sanskrit, the meaning of the name is “The Sea”. I think it would work really well for an Indo-American baby.
Alright, I came across a bunch more names that are Indian in origin:
Girl:
Aaliya, meaning High or Tall, Towering.
Amala, meaning Clean, Pure.
Asha, Hope.
Charisse, meaning Like a cherry
Esha, meaning Desired.
Gwenith, meaning Beautiful, wonderful.
Harper, meaning A harp player
Indira, meaning Beauty.
Kyra, meaning Princess
Lavenia, meaning Purified
Lorena, meaning Crowned with laurels
Pasha, meaning A bond.
Zara, meaning Little, petite.
Boy:
Brandon, meaning Broom covered hill.
Bryn, meaning Hill.
Corey, meaning Servant of god.
Drake, meaning Dragon.
Kent, meaning Bright
Leon, meaning Lion.
Omar, meaning life, long living.
Xavier, meaning New house.
I haven’t seen these mentioned, so I’ll throw them in there.
Ruchi – this is the name of one of my friends. I really like it and I don’t know of anyone who has trouble saying it.
Sarita – I’ve always loved this name. I think it would only take one correction (and she could Americanize it to Sara if she ever felt the need to.)
Nisha – I think this is really pretty and easy to pronounce too. I know a girl with this name and I don’t think she’s had any problems with pronounciation.
I’m on my phone so forgive me for being repetitive. I love Neha. Priya seems like a fitting choice. I’ve also heard Priyanka. Seems easy enough because it’s like Bianca. But this is coming from someone who is familiar with the culture.
I was watching Big Bang Theory last night and the main character’s girlfriend is Priya. She is sister to another character on the show named “Rajesh Koothrappali.”
Difficult situation! I know all about it since I’m French Canadian and husband is Arab. Names gotta work perfectly in 3 languages! I’m not worried about people pronouncing the name perfectly in Arabic as long as it sounds good in French and English. It will be pronounced perfectly in Arabic when we are in Egypt or talking to Arab family members. Of course this is coming from my perspective as the non-Arab but my husband is OK with it. Maybe you can give another chance to names that sound great in their messed up English pronunciations and focus on how th names do sound Indian and will get correctly pronounced when with Indian family?
My Indian friend recently named her beautiful baby girl Sayli, pronouned Sigh-lee (I had to be corrected). I think it’s beautiful!
Neha! I have a very good friend from southern India and her name, while pretty common (we live in Portland, OR and there are a lot of south Asians in this area), is easy to pronounce and really beautiful! Sometimes it’s mistakenly pronounced Nee-ha, instead of Nay-ha, but I think both ways sound nice. Best of luck!
I’m Indian-American and my hubby is 4th gen Chinese-American and we live in Hawaii. So, for my son, since he was going to have a Chinese last name and there aren’t too many Indians out here, I wanted to have an Indian name that was easy to pronounce by people unfamiliar with Indian names. We named him
Nikhil (Nik or Nicky for short). Other names we considered:
Raj
Naveen
Taj
Kiran
Jai
Sai
For girls, I liked:
Tara
Asha
Meera
Meena
Neena
Leena
Divya
Maya – so popular!
But, alas, looks like #2 is a boy as well, so I won’t be going with my fave name of Asha for this one. My name is also very easy to pronounce and I grew up in North Carolina! My brother’s name is Vijay, which does often get pronounced VJ, but still has a great meaning. The one bad thing with Nikhil is that if often gets pronouced Ni-KEEL instead of NI-kill, but overall, not too bad. And, I loved the Namesake, which is what I named him after.
My husband is Indian and I’m Irish- catholic. We always said if we had a girl she’d have a name similar to me and a boy would be Indian. We had our little girl and both loved Charlotte. But now I am pregnant with a boy and the name we loved was getting so mispronounced, Talin (Tall-in) but everyone remembered it as Talon, that I have to find something else. It’s hard to find that name that respects his culture but my family can pronounce and understand. And I like them to sound somewhat like brother and sister….tall order.
Names we found:
Karsin- one who attracts others
Ravinder
Kanin- born to a young wife
Rochil
Taran- raft; heaven
Girls (if I was having one):
Lila
Lola
Amaya
Ameera
I like Ravinder, which evidently means “sun” and “king of angels”. Ravi for short is way cool. Charlotte and Ravi also sound great together. Good luck, Catherine!
Hey
I just came across this website, and I thought I would try my luck here.
My name is Umang Vaish (100% indian). I am going into college in the fall, and I am thinking about changing my name (probably not legally.. more like a nickname) so people I meet over the next four years will be able to pronounce and remember my name.
First of all, should I bother changing my name or not? If so, what names do you think would fit well with my last name?
I currently have three names in my mind, but I have no clue if they work with my last name or if theyre great for collegelife.
-Neil
-Akshay
-Rohan
If you don’t like any of the three, or they dont work with my last name, what would you suggest?
My suggestion, Umang — don’t change your name. Believe me, I TOTALLY know the feeling of having a hard to pronounce Indian name and having to say it four times before somebody even gets close to saying it right (or just gives up all together), BUT that being said, I went by a nickname for a long time and eventually just decided to go back to my given name.
I think it’s good for people to hear names that are unfamiliar and get used to pronouncing them. Like I said, I know it’s tough, but in the long run I think it’s worth it. Also, it gets confusing later in life when some people call you one thing and others call you something totally different.
Besides, it’s college — you never know what kinds of crazy adventures you’ll have that will generate fun nicknames that will carry better memories than a name you just picked randomly.
Good luck!
My boyfriend is Indian, and I am completely American so I wanted something Indian-American, too
I wanted something that meant something like sunshine or happiness, and I though of “Sunrei/Sunrae”? Both sides of the family could pronounce it without too much trouble, and I think it sounds really cute! I guess the American side would pronounce it more like “SUN-RAY” but I like “Soon-reh-ee.” I talked to my boyfriend about it, though, and he just doesn’t like it! He wants something more modern and common. (But I like unique names.) Ah, we’ll see! Good luck with your search!
It is so hard to choose a name anyway, then through in the 2 cultures and it gets near impossible. My Indian husband and I have been together for 14+ years. We have 3 children with a 4th due within the month. Their names are:
Anamika, nickname “Mika”,
Krishen, which sounds like “Christian” to most Americans, and
Chandra, which most Americans are also familiar with.
Now we need another girl name.
Some names we are considering are:
Ayanna
Devina
Indira
Leena
Lakshmi
Maya
Nina
Rekha
Raveena
Vidya
Ugh, it’s always a struggle!
Good Luck!
I am American Married to a man from India and we named our son an English First Name and an Indian name for his Middle Name. If you do as I did, you may find the Indians will prefer to call him by his middle name Only as if it were his 1st name, but then my in-laws are racists. You are the one who will be repeating the name over and over again so pick what YOU Like.
One of my favourite names ever ever ever is Priya. So beautiful! You forgot to put the meaning though (beloved). I know a little girl called Priya whose sisters are Lily and Wren, gorgeous sibset I think
Hi – I’m a bit late to the post;but hopefully it’s still relevant. I’m a first generation Indian in the US and names are extremely important. I remember being a kid and no one being able to pronounce my name…
Here are some newer and modern Indian/Hindu names:
Girls:
1. Shaila
2. Tara
3. Layla
4. Nisa
5. Jasmine
6. Maya
7. Aria or Arianna
8. Samiya
9. Eva
10. Neva
11. Riya or Ria or Reya
Boys:
1. Jaiden or Jayden
2. Shaan
3. Shailen / Shaylen
4. Shayen
5. Jayen
6. Kamren
7. Arav
8. Arman
9. Avi
10. Rehan / Reyan
Hope this helps!!!
I LOVE your list. One of the best I’ve seen!
Oops – forgot 2 names:
Boys:
11. Deven
12. Dilan
I named my daughter Riya. I’m expecting a boy and we like the names: Saavin, Ravi, Krish, Rohan, Shaan, Rishaan, Rayan, Milan. So hard!
I love the boy name suggestions in this thread. Our baby is due in less than 3 wks and we are finding it really difficult to agree on a name. Good news is that we have it narrowed down to 2 names and I wanted to get your opinion on which one is better than the other. The top contenders are:
JAI and RISHI
Thanks!!
My parents named me Seema. Very easy to pronounce indian girl’s name.
I named my daughter DAYA (pronouced Day-ah). Very easy to pronouce and has a beautiful meaning in Hinduism (one of the 5 virtues of life – Compassion). We are having a boy in the next few months and are having trouble finding a good Indo-American name that is not too common (we know too many Dilans and Devons it seems)…Great list Teal! Any other boy suggestions would be great!!
I’m going to have a baby boy soon, so I’ve short listed these names –
Rajiv / Rajeev
Veer
Aryan
Krish (or Krishna)
Still can’t decide
We are in the same situation and have decided to name our boy Vivek Daniel
I think these are cute and easy to pronounce!
Reva
Kirra
Rani
I’m from India and my husband is a blonde haired blue eyed jewish american and we’re expecting a baby girl at the end of this month. Finding a name was so difficult for us because while we like a lot indian names (including Anjali) we were afraid his family wouldn’t be able to say the name or she would be teased since she might end up not looking Indian at all.
Our current list of names include:
Meena
Meera
Lila
Lyra
Asha
Maya
Keira
Sheila
Right now we’re leaning towards Lyra…
I love Lyra. Good luck!
How about Suma? It is a pretty and pronounceable. I have a sister named Suma, and everyone can pronounce her name. My name, Sita, everyone pronounces correctly.
How about an Indian name with a nickname? Or a more american name that still sounds amazing with the Indian pronunciation? I know a few people called Salena, Pia and Amandha and for a boy there’s Jay or Neal. Or my name Ruthika which in america is pronounced Rue-tee-ka instead of Ru-the-ka. I go by Rue. So basically an Indian name but with an american nickname. Or I have a friend Thanvi whose mother put an H in her name so her name would be pronounced correctly. =D
Renee which mean reborn
Amber or Umber- sky
Aliya or Aaliya- sorry not so sure abt meaning but sure its good.
Bela- Beautiful
Raina- mean night…