Hinduism

Among Hindu names, some of the most important are the first names given to newborns. This is the given name that every parent gives their child and it represents an identity in the world. Most names mean something in the language, just like other culture, only they may be less known.

For example, Daniel is used in the English language and doesn’t have a meaning other than as a prophet released from a lion’s den by god. In Hindu, the name Achal is listed as steady, while Adhira means lightning. These names could be very fine attributes to lend to a person. Given the name Adhira, the boy might be more apt to have a very electric personality. They charge quickly and have a quick release. This could mean having a short tempered personality.

In a Hindu society, such as in India, the naming system can tell another person a lot about you. Your middle name may be your father’s name. In many cases, if you have a middle name, it is the same for all of your siblings, for that name is the first name of your father and it shows your genealogy.

If you have longer names, they can be used to represent different things. Some names can be the names of the town that you were born in. They may also be the names of regions or states that you were born in. There are two downfalls to this process. One: people can automatically know about your history, i.e. where you are from, who your father is, even the caste that you are in.

Being a caste based society, it is important to understand some of the differences in the castes and to not mingle with the other castes. If you do “mingle” with the other castes, it is likely that you could be killed, especially if you are female. For all purposes, your name is truly your identity.

The last part about naming is that when a person gets married, the process of naming is often the same as in America. The female usually takes the surname of the man that they wed, for they become part of his family and are no longer part of their own, so to speak. Summarily, naming can be you identity in more ways than one. Your origin, family, caste, and even your personality can be distinguishable in the names that you may have.