Hindi-American name for 3rd child

Name Advice
1

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries,
We are currently expecting our 3rd child and are already having a lot of trouble finding names. We find out in a week if it’s a boy or girl, which should at least focus our arguments on the one gender. Trouble is we are a multi-cultural, interfaith home. My husband is a hindu from [name_f]India[/name_f] (Mumbai) and I am an american (caucasian) christian with Czech and Slovenian roots. We try to find names that speak to both cultures, are not religious in nature, and can be easily pronounced by both families. Small pool of names to pick from.

Our first born is a boy named [name_m]Nikhil[/name_m], who we call [name_u]Nik[/name_u] for short. [name_m]Nikhil[/name_m] means “complete without boundaries”. Our second child is a girl named [name_f]Laila[/name_f]. [name_f]Laila[/name_f] in Sanskrit means “born at night” or “dark beauty”. Both have middle names that honor someone in the family, which we will probably try to do again with the third, so it’s really the first name I’m concerned with.

Leftover favorite names we liked but didn’t use last time:
Boy:
[name_u]Sam[/name_u] (short for [name_u]Samar[/name_u] or [name_m]Samir[/name_m])- I really like [name_u]Sam[/name_u] but am not a big fan of either long form

Girl:
[name_f]Anika[/name_f]- We would have named [name_u]Nik[/name_u] this if he had been a girl, but felt it was too close to [name_m]Nikhil[/name_m] to use for a second child. We love that it has roots in both Hindi and Czech. Is it too similar to use for #3?

Other names we kinda like but can’t agree on:
Boy:
[name_m]Bodhi[/name_m]- I like, he doesn’t
[name_m]Ravi[/name_m]- he likes, I don’t
[name_u]Ryan[/name_u]- my fav, but not hindi enough for hubby
Kamran- I’d like it if we spelled it [name_u]Cameron[/name_u], but then it’s not hindi enough for Hubby
Ashwin- Both kinda like this one if we called him “[name_u]Ash[/name_u]” but not sold yet
[name_u]Rohan[/name_u]- Both like the sound, but too [name_m]Lord[/name_m] of the Rings for me. I like “[name_u]Rowan[/name_u]” better, but he doesn’t

Girl:
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]- speaks to both cultures well, but I worry about jokes about “on ya (you)”
[name_u]Arya[/name_u]- too Game of Thrones? Plus doesn’t sound the best with our last name
[name_f]Elina[/name_f]- I like, he doesn’t
[name_f]Jayne[/name_f]- He says it reminds him of Jain, the religion
[name_f]Priya[/name_f]- He loves, I don’t (reminds me of Prius)
[name_f]Sonia[/name_f]- Both kinda like
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]- I love, speaks to both cultures, he doesn’t like
[name_f]Viveka[/name_f]- I like, he doesn’t

Facepalm. I’m getting no where. I’ve read every blog article and read through thousands of hindi names looking for one that might be right. Help me!

3

It’s not so much that I dont want them to get teased, although my husband has had a hard time with his name (which is hard for Americans to pronounce). It’s more that I love my heritage too and want it reflected in our children’s names.

Thanks for the lovely suggestions. [name_f]Asha[/name_f] has been on our list in the past. [name_u]Raja[/name_u] is actually our dog’s name and we love it. ”

4

Being a Hindu-American/[name_f]Indian[/name_f] American, I also understand the struggle of finding names that are not too hard to pronounce and also satisfy both cultural backgrounds. Both your children have a great representation of [name_f]Indian[/name_f] names that are flexible and good for both cultures, which is awesome.

On account of [name_u]Sam[/name_u], I’m also not a huge fan of the long forms for boys. Maybe you would consider Sameera or Samanvi for a girl? And for [name_f]Anika[/name_f], I don’t really think it’s as matchy to [name_m]Nikhil[/name_m], but I also think that there are other gorgeous girl names that could possibly beat out [name_f]Anika[/name_f].

My favorites from your boy list are:
Ashwin
[name_m]Bodhi[/name_m]
[name_m]Ravi[/name_m]
My boy suggestions to you are:
[name_m]Aditya[/name_m]- “[name_u]Adi[/name_u]” would work as a nickname.
[name_u]Avi[/name_u]- Unisex in my opinion.
[name_m]Idris[/name_m]- “[name_u]Reese[/name_u]” as a nickname
[name_u]Jai[/name_u]- Maybe you could also consider this for a girl?
Kavi- Spin on the uber popular [name_m]Ravi[/name_m]
Reyan/[name_m]Reyansh[/name_m]- Kind of an [name_f]Indian[/name_f] twist on [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] which I feel like could work on boys and girls. [name_m]Reyansh[/name_m] is getting really popular in [name_f]India[/name_f] right now, but I personally like Reyan better than [name_m]Reyansh[/name_m]. And, it has that adorable nickname [name_u]Ray[/name_u] which, again, works for both genders.
Roshan- If [name_u]Rohan[/name_u] is too [name_m]Lord[/name_m] of the Rings, than how about this one?
Siddhi or [name_m]Siddharth[/name_m]- I would go with Siddhi which is a lot less popular than [name_m]Siddharth[/name_m], but they both sport the same nickname “[name_m]Sid[/name_m]”.
[name_m]Varun[/name_m]
[name_m]Vikram[/name_m]

My favorites from your girl list are:
[name_f]Priya[/name_f]
[name_f]Sonia[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]
My girl suggestions to you are:
[name_f]Asha[/name_f]- The “[name_u]Ash[/name_u]” nickname could be applied here
[name_f]Camilla[/name_f]/[name_f]Kamilla[/name_f]- I feel like the “K” variation is more [name_f]Indian[/name_f] to me.
Divya- “Divi” could be a nickname
[name_f]Maia[/name_f]- Normally spelt [name_f]Maya[/name_f] in [name_f]Indian[/name_f] cultures but I like the [name_f]Maia[/name_f] spelling better
[name_f]Miriam[/name_f]- Not sure how [name_f]Indian[/name_f] this one is but I feel like it could work.
[name_f]Rima[/name_f]- Pronounced “[name_f]Ree[/name_f]-ma”
[name_f]Sanaa[/name_f]
[name_f]Sarina[/name_f]- Or Sareena
Sonali- Pretty and popular
[name_f]Talia[/name_f]
Tanvi
[name_f]Zara[/name_f]

I do feel like there are a lot more gorgeous [name_f]Indian[/name_f]/American names out there for both genders that I’m missing, so I would keep looking beyond this list. Hopefully this at least helped a little.

Good [name_m]Luck[/name_m]!

5

We just found out we’re having a girl! :slight_smile:

6

Congratulations! [name_m]How[/name_m] [name_f]LOVELY[/name_f]! :slight_smile: Personally, I think [name_f]Anika[/name_f] makes a BEAUTIFUL combination of her two Siblings Names without being too close to either of them. As long as you don’t Nickname her [name_u]Nik[/name_u] or [name_f]Nika[/name_f], I can’t see a problem at all! And it is SUCH a beautiful Name, as are [name_m]Nikhil[/name_m] and [name_f]Laila[/name_f]! A GORGEOUS Sibset! :slight_smile:

7

[name_f]Lia[/name_f] or [name_f]Anjali[/name_f] both translate well across cultures and flow well with your other children’s names.

8

[name_m]Hi[/name_m]. I imagine your baby is born now! I hope you picked a pretty name for you. I didn’t know many czech baby names and one that stood out was [name_f]Anoushka[/name_f], it sounds very similar to the [name_f]Indian[/name_f] Anousha and I know [name_f]Anoushka[/name_f] is also used in [name_f]India[/name_f]. There is also Anekha which is a lot like [name_f]Anika[/name_f]
I have mixed [name_f]Indian[/name_f]/western heritage, and I honestly quite dislike the trend to westernise [name_f]Indian[/name_f] sounding names with nickname. People often wanted to anglicise mine and it bothered me. I was proud of my heritage and name and mostly because it wasn’t the name that made me stand out. Honest fact, the colour of my skin is/was/will always make me “foreign” in a lot of peoples mind. My experience is that no matter what the name people who are so inclined will refuse to pronounce or learn your name to make their point. Not bitter about it, just the honest fact of racism.
In naming my kids though, I wanted to honour that heritage but still have names that the extended family across all generations could pronounce. That’s an issue for both sides of the family really! Too western means the indian side gets tongue tied just as much as the other way round. I chose short names to avoid the nick name factor. So I’ll list a few options from the extended family for anyone still looking.
My boys are
Aadi
[name_m]Bodhi[/name_m]
Girls names I’ve favoured include:
[name_f]Maya[/name_f]
[name_f]Anjali[/name_f]
[name_f]Mirabai[/name_f]
[name_f]Jaya[/name_f]
[name_f]Leela[/name_f]
I also like Priyanka and [name_f]Pari[/name_f] but our surname starts with P so it sounds silly.
I’m looking for baby number three’s name right now. my favourite so far is [name_f]Tulsi[/name_f] and maybe [name_u]Rohan[/name_u] for a boy.

9

We are also if that cultural mix…so adding few names from our own search for the name:

[name_m]Shaan[/name_m] ([name_f]Indian[/name_f] / Welsh)
[name_u]Sunny[/name_u]
[name_m]Harry[/name_m] / [name_m]Hari[/name_m]