Cross Cultural Names

General Name Discussion
1

Hello,

My husband and I are struggling to think of the perfect baby names for our baby due in [name]October[/name].
Our surname is Patel and my husband is of [name]Indian[/name] descent. I’m English of Irish/English descent. We would like something that doesn’t sound odd with the surname Patel but isn’t strictly [name]Indian[/name] because we want to reflect a British heritage too, in some respect.
We talked about [name]Leo[/name] for a boy but it is too popular for us, and for girls we haven’t been able to think of anything we remotely agree on at all, apart from [name]Sierra[/name], which we have considered because we had our honeymoon in [name]Cuba[/name].
Hindi names that have a Western flavour would be ideal, or a Western name with a more exotic flavour.
Any help much appreciated!

[name]Kate[/name]

2

I’m by no means an expert on Hindi names but Google tells me these are Hindi and I think they’d work well in the UK/an English-speaking country:

Boys: [name]Arun[/name], Ashwin, [name]Falan[/name], [name]Jay[/name], [name]Kamal[/name], [name]Kiran[/name], [name]Rohan[/name]
Girls: Esha, [name]Indira[/name], [name]Jaya[/name], [name]Jayne[/name], [name]Kala[/name], [name]Manda[/name], [name]Maya[/name], [name]Rani[/name]

A few more exotic-sounding ‘English’ names:
Boys: [name]Alex[/name], [name]Ari[/name], [name]Arlo[/name], [name]Asa[/name], [name]Eli[/name], [name]Hugo[/name], [name]Jago[/name], [name]Kai[/name], [name]Luka[/name], [name]Max[/name], [name]Nico[/name], [name]Oscar[/name], [name]Rogan[/name]
Girls: [name]Eva[/name], [name]India[/name], [name]Karina[/name], [name]Leah[/name], [name]Lola[/name], [name]Luna[/name], [name]Nadia[/name], [name]Nina[/name], [name]Orla[/name], [name]Rosa[/name], [name]Saffron[/name], [name]Sienna[/name], [name]Tara[/name]

:slight_smile:

3

I’m not familiar with Hindu names but
[name]Jasmine[/name] or [name]Yasmin[/name] was the first that came to mind for girls.
[name]Nia[/name]
[name]Zara[/name]
[name]Kirrily[/name]
[name]Samara[/name] /[name]Tamara[/name]

Maybe
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Leon[/name]
Tamlin/[name]Tam[/name]
[name]Tarquin[/name]
(Boys were a lot harder)

Good luck.

4

I used Behind the Name’s database and came up with some interesting names:

Aditi: boundless, entire or freedom, security
Amala: clean, pure
[name]Ananda[/name]: happy, bliss
[name]Anjali[/name]: offering
Ankita: marked
[name]Arya[/name]: honorable, noble (This is probably fits your criteria to the letter)
[name]Asha[/name]: wish, desire, hope
[name]Devi[/name]: goddess
[name]Indira[/name]: beautiful (Might be too literal, as it spells ‘[name]India[/name]’ without the ‘r’)
[name]Kali[/name]: the black one
[name]Kamala[/name]: lotus or pale red
[name]Kiran[/name]: dust, thread or sunbeam (Might be too similar to the Irish male [name]Kieran[/name])
Lavanya: beauty, grace
[name]Lila[/name]: play, amusement ([name]Said[/name] lee-luh not Lie-luh)
[name]Lina[/name]: absorbed, united
[name]Mala[/name]: necklace
[name]Maya[/name]: illusion
[name]Mina[/name]: fish
[name]Mira[/name]: sea, ocean
[name]Rani[/name]: queen
[name]Riya[/name]/[name]Ria[/name]: singer
Sunita: well conducted, polite
[name]Tara[/name]: star

Boys were harder:

Ajit: invincible, he who has not been conquered
[name]Amar[/name]: immortal
[name]Arjun[/name]: white, clear
Deo: god
[name]Dev[/name]: God
[name]Jai[/name]: [name]Victory[/name]
[name]Kiran[/name]: dust, thread or sunbeam
Lochan: the eye
[name]Raj[/name]: king, prince
[name]Ravi[/name]: sun
[name]Sanjay[/name]: Triumphant
Sunil: very blue
[name]Vijay[/name]: victory

5

I am thinking short names with sounds used in both languages would work best.

Girls

[name]Alda[/name], [name]Ami[/name], [name]Ana[/name], [name]Bryn[/name], Jayna, [name]Lily[/name], [name]Lucia[/name], [name]Rita[/name], [name]Serena[/name], [name]Shayna[/name], [name]Tara[/name]

Boys

[name]Arlo[/name], [name]Brent[/name], [name]Jay[/name], [name]Lars[/name], [name]Milo[/name], [name]Neil[/name], [name]Owen[/name], [name]Piers[/name], [name]Van[/name]

6

My husband and I both just adore the name [name]Arya[/name] that someone has suggested, it’s the first one we have both really loved and I think we might be on to a winner there :slight_smile:
For a boy I think we have decided we will go for something distinctly Western/English. We have been talking about [name]Arthur[/name].

7

I really like the name [name]Avani[/name] for a girl.means earth.
For a boy maybe [name]Alexander[/name] or [name]Rowan[/name].

8

You could always choose an English name that has the possibility of an [name]Indian[/name] nn.
Something like [name]Miranda[/name] nn [name]Manda[/name].

I also really love [name]Kiran[/name] for a boy - it’s the only [name]Indian[/name] name I would consider for my so completely european/american family. I love that it’s so similar to the Irish [name]Kieran[/name]. Very distinctly both Western European and [name]Indian[/name].
I’m going to keep thinking about this and might be back later.