Dear Kanika,
Congrats on becoming a mom-to-be. For naming the baby, I'd suggest you wait till the baby is born. It would be better for the baby if you name him/her after seeing what Nakshatra (constellation) s/he is born under and then choose the name with the first letter as prescribed in ancient Vedic Astrology.

Cheers!
Navin

Hi Kanika,

Let me suggest a few names for your unborn baby:

If it’s a boy:

Aks (a mirror; a reflection)
Aryan (of the Aryans)
Amulya (priceless)
Dhruv (an asteroid)
Kalkin (an incarnation of lord Vishnu)
Narsi (poet, saint)
Shrey (acclaim, thanks)

If it’s a girl:

Amberley (Sky)
Cauvery (River)
Elina (pure, intelligent)
Ira (watchful)
Ishana (rich)
Jayne (victorious)
Maliha (strong, beautiful)

Sanjeev (full of life and invigorating!)

Ameya!!
its sanskrit for immeasurable.
works for me ;)
heeehe.

Dear Kanika,
I have thought about you and I've wondered how you were doing, missing your beautiful writings.

I love names that remind us of our connection to the universe. So from Sanjeev's choices, Dhruv and Amberley sound beautiful to me.
Best wishes to the baby and you.
Love,
Donatella

Hi All,
Thanks for the suggestions! Aanya's baby sister will be a girl....although in case the doctors were wrong (or we end up going for it again), I'll keep the boy names in mind! :)

Love the name Ameya, actually, but it's very close, phonetically, to Aanya. I know I will be a mom who mixes up my kids' names anyways, but I'd like to avoid this, as much as possible!

More suggestions, please!
love,
Kanika

Hi All,
Thanks for the suggestions! Aanya's baby sister will be a girl....although in case the doctors were wrong (or we end up going for it again), I'll keep the boy names in mind! :)

Love the name Ameya, actually, but it's very close, phonetically, to Aanya. I know I will be a mom who mixes up my kids' names anyways, but I'd like to avoid this, as much as possible!

More suggestions, please!
love,
Kanika

I just met a 5 year old kid named Laya (rhymes with Jaya). It means absorbtion (as in a meditative state) and in music it means something too but I can't remember what. Anyway, I thought it was a very nice name.

“We have a very short shortlist....but no clear winners” ~ Kanika Sethi

Can you post here your “very short list”, so that we know you are ‘sincere’ in asking for our suggestions?

Akin to a credit card offer...it is only psychological you know.

It helps if you post you list (Is it a secret?).

Bloggers would know what sort of names you are interested in. They can suggest something in those lines. You may know that people from many nationalities speaking from diverse cultures visit this blog.

I cannot help but be dismayed when an odd contributor has nothing new to offer or bring any substantial issue to the bench.(Look at others posts in the homepage. They may be heavy. but hey!). Well, I won’t complain too much as, what…freedom of speech, right!

Having said that, I hope you can share at least something, however insignificant it may be…..Will you share your very short list of baby names? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.

As part of my contribution I will suggest a name for the baby girl (of course, an insignificant contribution on your part to the planet earth):

Nyruti (you can call her Nyru)

(I believe it signifies a direction, has many interpretations and is auspicious in Hindu culture.)

Aks (a mirror; a reflection)
Aryan (of the Aryans)
Amulya (priceless)
Dhruv (an asteroid)
Kalkin (an incarnation of lord Vishnu)
Narsi (poet, saint)
Shrey (acclaim, thanks)

If it’s a girl:

Amberley (Sky)
Cauvery (River)
Elina (pure, intelligent)
Ira (watchful)
Ishana (rich)
Jayne (victorious)
Maliha (strong, beautiful)

I have taken the first letter of all of these...

If it is boy...Adkns
If it is a girl....Aceijm

Congratulations, Kanika. My suggestions:

Ahaana

Aaliya

Anvita

Kuhu

Vanya

Vartika

Vithika

Mridu

Elina, mentioned above, sounds pretty.

Grace.

Hi Kanika: I can't believe, as a single male, I'm even for a moment imagining I can be of use here, but.....

what comes to mind is first, the idea that souls almost always try and influence their choice for future name by psychically/telepathically wafting it into the minds of their parents--and usually strong just before birth--just what you want to be stressing over as you enter labor!? Soooo.....ask the incoming tyke to help you know--maybe the little one-s are watching you build this list from over your shoulder and will just check one off for you!

I do have to say that I've grown very fond of the many Indian names that have been increasinly adding to the American name-pool: both your and your cousin's name (Mallika) are very "sing-song" to me, whereas alot of American names to me, like mine, are less so.

I've always liked the sound of "Simran Sethi"--and think of it as one name, instead of two--and.....is the child taking your maiden name, or married name, if you don't mind me asking?

The point being, Dana Shields mentioned he liked Joanie's "Elina"--so do I, but what if you extended it to something like "Selena," if it's a girl--then we have that magnificent singer's energy combined with a cool last name, Sethi.

Just my totally unqualified thoughts for now--look forward to hearing more of your continued journey deeper into motherhood--and please consider writing some more of your exploratory posts in all areas--Good to hear from you, like your cousing, you're a treasure! Dave

Dear Kanika, how very exciting a time this is for your family!! I've always liked the name, Shannon, Jennifer, and my Auntie Lou's name: Louella-May.

I think the most important thing to remember in choosing a child's name; is how that child might accept their name later in life?

There are ettiquete guidelines for naming a child; and I would cringe at times, upone reading some names of celebrity children! And yet, I would also think simultaneously--what bravity, to dare to be "different and new."

But, ultimately we must always bear in mind, that when the named child ages..that name, will either cause them ridicule all through school, or create a commonality, or yet again... uniqueness of nicnames?

When we chose a name for Lee... I had bought a book on baby names...and searched for one, for his sign's strength as well. Also we bore in mind, we have a long surname, so opted to find short first name... we took lots into careful consideration... as I'm sure you and hubby and big sister are as well... isn't naming children fun?

May God continue to Bless you and your family with abundant joys, such as children.

Dave--every person befriended by you, are children of love-heartedness(brother/sister); your family is as vast as an opened door of friendship is : )

With Loving Kindness,
North

Why not choose a name from the wonderful list of those who comment here at Intentblog?

I had a fun time looking up the meanings. I apologize to anyone I may have missed; a few I could not find in my research. I only wrote down the first definition listed, so if you have a better definition for any of the names, I would be interested to know.

Fondly, Patzi

Ashie - Ash-tree meadow
Aurora - Dawn
Baba - Born on Thursday
Bobby - Bright
Craig - Rock
David - Beloved
Divya - Divine luster
Donatella - Generous
Donna - Lady
Geeta - Holy book of Hindus
Gordon -Unique
Heather - Flowering Heather
Helene - Shining one
Hiren - Golden girl
Jignesh - Curiosity to research
Joanie - Gracious
Kamini - Beautiful woman
Kanika - Black cloth
Kate - Pure
Keith - From the forest
Kristin - Anointed
Marek - Warlike one
Mieke - Like God
Morris - Moorish
Naj - Safe
Navin - Novel
North - From the north
Patzi - Noble
Prabhakar - Dawn
Rahul - Son of Lord Buddha
Ravi - Benevolent
Rekha - Line
Richard - Power
Ron - Ruler
Ruth - Compassionate
Sachin - Lord Indra
Scott - Scotsman
Seema - Boundary
Simon - He who hears
Stan - Stone
Sumant - Wise
Tiffany - Appearance of God
Sundar - Handsome
Walter - Powerful Warrior
Yogi-one - Practicer of yoga

Not bad, Patzi. We do have a smorgas... smrograssboard... smorargas... OK, a good collection of names.

But look'ere, my parents didn't know. So heck, no one laughs.

Dear Patzi, absolutely wonderful gesture!! And hey, both yours and my names were attributed to us rightfully...(wink!)

Love Kindness,
North

Hmm so being as my name is Donna D and North... I am a Lady of the North! : )

Hi Patzi,

That was an excellent compilation. But I would like to introduce a few alternate meanings of some names:

Baba-Hindu holy man; ascetic
Naj-Pride; vainglory
Ravi-The Sun
Stan-Abode (Stan is a suffix used in countries’ names to denote “belonging to”)
Sumant-Full of flowery fragrance
Navin-Latest, new ( “Novel” is unique, ingenuous)

Sanjeev

Dear Sanjeev,

Thank you for your input! The closest I could find to “Sanjeev” is “Sanjiv” meaning “love.”

I also couldn’t find Andaleeb, Cinda, Jean-Francois, Dulcie, Fresporta, Dana, Harb, Nargis, Nimita. And a few others. I wanted to include AJ, but wasn’t certain what the A or J stood for.

I would enjoy help on any of the names I missed!

Love, Patzi

Dear Patzi,

Appreciate your effort in finding out the meaning of the names of many Ibloggers from diverse cultures.

A closer meaning of the name Sanjeev would be "reviving".

Nargis means "Narcissus", the flower, in Persian.

Harb is the short of Harbhajan which means God's Divine Song, in Gurmukhi.

Andaleeb means Bulbul, the song bird.

Nimita means "embedded".

The name Adrian (AJ) means, "Of the Adriatic", and is of Latin origin.

Dulcie means "sweet".

Cinda might be derived from Lucinda and Lucine was the Roman goddess of childbirth.

Dana was the mother of the Gods in myths.

Cheers!
Navin = New

Sanjeev: I just wrote to Patzi with the idea I'd love to find out more sources for the meanings of the names of the contributors--I've found a few good sources for Western-oriented names, but I find an exotic magic from the sound I hear in my mind for the Eastern names we see here.

It would be a very cool thread to build on what Kanika has started here; and it is exactly names like hers, yours, and the many contributors and posters from all over that would make for such a delightful exploration--esp. since many spiritual teachings get into the various levels of names, and soul sounds.

The Egyptian "Ren" is said to be something of a Universal name that each unique soul carries throughout it's sojourns--it is actually more of one of the "bodies of the soul's robes," so to speak--but our earthly names do purposely effect a frequency specific resonance that indeed serves our overall calling in this world.

Some of the people here would know the some of the accepted meanings of their own names; but are likely to be somewhat shy about bringing those meanings forward--certainly most names have multiple implications associated, as well.

I can just see Ravi Kopra (the "Benevolent" and "Sun"-ny One!) having a poetic field day with the grist-for-the-mill of the many meanings of our names, combined with our various perspectives and threads!!!! Dave

Navin: I should have known you'd be one of the perfect trackers for expanding this one: I could definitely see you writing a book combining this with your astrological understanding--what a "Novel" idea for you! Dave

Hi Patzi,

Let me correct an orthographical error in my # 19. Last line (within brackets) should read: “Novel is unique, INGENIOUS.”

Which place are you looking up for the meanings of these names? Sanjeev isn’t Love. It means “life-giving”. It derives from an ancient Hindu medicinal herb named Sanjeevani, which was administered to Lord Rama’s brother Laxman, when he fell unconscious after being hit by an arrow. Nargis is a flower.
I would try and post if I can find the meanings of other names.

Sanjeev

Sanjeev: Like that! Nice expansion, and just from the origins of one name.

This all causes me to be perplexed however. If Patzi has so far been a fiction-based "novel writer"--and we are both stewing about building some sort of publishing outfit in the years to come, then when people ask what we publish, can I say, "We publish 'Navin Navins,' and other stuff?!" (ie., we publish "unique and ingenious novels, and other stuff!") Dave

Dear Dave,

Not a bad idea. It is for this reason that I believe that parents should choose the names for their kids very very carefully. Knowingly or unknowingly, they are giving a direction to the lives of their kids with the name they give to them. For it is with these names that new kids on the bloc would be called by the rest of the souls, for the rest of their lives. The name should encourage the child to live upto its ideals.

In Hindus (also in other religions) their is proper Naam Karan ceremony. The Sikhs add the name "Kaur" (meaning Princess) to all the females and "Singh" (meaning Lion) to all the males. No wonder most Sikh males are immensely brave and most Sikh females are pretty. ;)

Cheers!
Navin (the ever New!) ;)

(you prefix the word "Navin" with any other name/word and that name/word becomes "New"). ;)

Hi David,

I also like the idea of exploring the hidden, underlying meanings of our names. One thing I have noticed is that unlike western names, Indian names have clear meanings; these are words we use in everyday conversations. For example in the west, you will rarely see a woman named Beautiful or a man named Handsome. But in India, we have so many girls named Roopa (beautiful) and men named Sundar (beautiful or handsome, interchangeable between men and women). You can find most of these names in dictionaries listed as adjectives. Pick up any Hindi dictionary and you’ll find Navin(New, up-to-date; Desh(country, nation); Seema(Boundary); Deepak(Light, a lamp-our Deepak is veritably named!); Mallika(Empress; Queen), et al.

We will discuss this thing further. It’s past midnight here in India. See you!

Sanjeev

LOL Rehan,

Are you imagining me in a threesome with Divya and Kamini?.......Why are you putting such "sensuous desires" in our heads, you naughty boy!!! LOL

Cheers & Good night,
Navin

Patzi: Since the first moment I started communicating with you, I intuitively knew there was something completely orthographically incorrect about you--now I know for sure!--not so "Noble" after all, are we now, Missy!

I'm thinking I'd better go consult with a Baba (Holy Man--or Woman, Baba-ess), and see whether I should indeed be setting up a Stan (Abode) with you, after all.

In the mean time, I'm going to get on my bike, and ride east of North, and go sit in the Bobby Ravi (Bright Sun), smell the Sumant (flowery fragrances), listen to the Dulcie Andaleebs (sweet song birds), and hang out with my Marek and Sumant-Sundar-Walter friends (warlike and wise-handsome-powerful warriors) while we order coffee drinks from the Joanie Kaminis (gracious and beautiful women) all dressed in Kanikas (black cloth--required at Starbucks!),....

.....maybe do some reading from your latest Navin Navin or just discuss the Dana in the Geeta (Mother of the Gods in a Hindu Holy book), and then finish off with ride through a Keith (from a forest) while dreaming of being Elina, Maliha and Ishana (pure and intelligent, strong and beautiful, and rich, of course)........

.......and then find a big Craig (rock) to sit on and Yogi-One while meditating away so I can hear the Celestial Music of Harb (God's Divine Song) and float into the Nimita (embedded meaning) of it All.

Hopefully, I will have an Epiphany-of-Tiffany (appearance of God) while thinking of you, and your Dulcie-Gordon-Divya-of-a-Kate heart (sweet, unique, shining luster, pure)!!!

Thank You for Simoning me so well (he/she who hears)--you are a Hiren to me (Golden Girl)--Much Love, Your "David" (Beloved--and in skipping the more egotistical meanings of the name, don't forget it means "benevolent king"--soooo.....woman, does that mean I get to be the CEO of our one-man-one-woman publishing outfit, or are you the Queen of the Keith?!)

This is all so cute!

Dear Sanjeev and Navin,

Thank you for your clarifications, knowledge, and expertise.

I used three sources: Two I found in an internet search; The third is a book, “Hidden Truth of Your Name.”

Patzi

P.S. Navin, there is an astrological question I have been wanting to ask you for a long time. Maybe you would be so kind to answer it for me sometime on an Open Thread?

Dear David,

Since the first moment I started communicating with you, I intuitively knew there was something completely clever and ingenious about you. Not listed under your name, but true nonetheless.

And since I am of nobility -- at least orthographically -- I am a perfect partner to you, "benevolent king.”

Love you! Patzi

Also, greetings to you Lady North!

Love, "The Noble" Patzi

Sanjeev: I now like to think of your name in the way that love is the giver of all life--cool name, n'est pas!

Patzi just sent this one for me as a source--maybe Kanika will see this too:

http://www.babynames.org.uk/indian-baby-names.htm

Dave--from Patzi

Greetings backatcha, Noblewoman, Patzi

Love,
Lady of the North

Dear Kanika, how many names are you down to now? I bet the list increased, rather than decreased?

Ideally, this baby would have a different name every day. To suit the weather. Or her mood.

Kanika, here are my favorite names for girls.
Annika
Carina
Elena
Lena
Siona
Mora
Raina

Kannika, one of these nights before falling asleep, please ask the baby to give you suggestions as to what she wants to be named. Either you will dream about it or you will wake up thinking about the perfect name.Lots of love and may Goddess Parvati Bless you. Also I wish you all the luck in the world.

Patzi, Geeta means, song, verse, poem.

Bhagavadgita is the the most holy book of Hindus, a dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjuna.Bhagavad means God's. Love and God bless.

Kanika, here are my favorite names for girls.
Annika
Carina
Elena
Lena
Siona
Mora
Raina

Kannika, one of these nights before falling asleep, please ask the baby to give you suggestions as to what she wants to be named. Either you will dream about it or you will wake up thinking about the perfect name.Lots of love and may Goddess Parvati Bless you. Also I wish you all the luck in the world.

Patzi, Geeta means, song, verse, poem.

Bhagavadgita is the the most holy book of Hindus, a dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjuna.Bhagavad means God's. Love and God bless.

Hi Geeta,

So much for the site I was on! This is what it stated:
Geeta - holy book of the Hindus
Geeti - a song
Geetika - a little song

But what I know of you from Intentblog, you are like “a song”. A very lovely melody.

Love, Patzi

Dear Patzi,
In ref. to your #32, you are welcome to ask me any questions on Astrology. Will answer to the best of my ability, time permitting.

Dear Rehan,
I got your point and thanks for the compliments.

Cheers!
Navin

Patzi, the most noble lady, thank you most kindly. Love and God bless.

Dear Kanika,
My friend has a precious 11 year old daughter, and her name is Visruti.
I think you may have a challenge, to pick from among so many names, and beautiful ones too.
I wish you have a healthy pregnancy, and Aanya must be excited!
With love,
~ Kate

Hi Patzi,
Thank you starting a great conversation on names and meanings!
Love,
~ Kate

Adaa-Style; manner
Fiza-Atmosphere
Maya-Illusion

Sanjeev

I wish I knew how Adaa and Fiza sounded phonetically. Are they like ah-dah and Fee-zah phonetically?

And if we don't hurry up, we may have to call her CONTRIBUTOR.

Dear Geeta, Kate, and Navin,

Thank you! Thank you! and Thank you!

Love, Patzi

Dear Danashieds,

Adaa sounds like A-dah (a light h sound only at the end); first A is pronounced as you'd pronounce u in cup. Fiza is pronounced as Fi-zah. Geeta would be pronounced as Gee-tah. For a longer e sound, we use double e.

Sanjeev

Thanks, klumsyklutz. Adah isnt pronounced anything like I thought it would be. It's nice.

Oops. Adaa.

Hey! Seems I've been missing some interesting comments. Thanks Rehan for your compliments! However, you know my name if mis-pronounced phonetically can mean something not very nice!
:-)

Personally, I like Iranian/Persian names: Firozah (Turquoise), Sharareh, Paristou...If I ever have a daughter, I would love to call here Ekaterina (after the famous Bolshoi Prima Ballerina)......heh,heh,heh...My nieces are called Sarika, Shyeni (Eagle)and Rohini.

Names really are so important.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for some delightful suggestions! And Patzi, your post was excellent. (btw, Kanika, in Sanskrit, means "Atom" or "Gold dust".) Aanya Rani means "inexaustable queen" and she certainly is.

Our shortlist, in no particular order:

Indira - Splendid or India (Indi for short)
Pooja - Prayer
Katyani - Goddess Durga (Katya for short)
Nadirah - Pinacle or Precious
Maya - Illusion
Karina - Pure

I love the name Elina too, but my friend just named her daughter that.

Anyways, this is fun! Thanks for all the contributions and an interesting discussion.

Love,
Kanika

HI Kanika, I really like the name, Nadirah!! Dave Stewart is working with Nadirah X, and she is amazingly talented. As well as a singer and song writer, she is also a graphic designer. Seems to me, the name matched the girl....

All the best to you and the family, and may your delivery of your new daughter, be painless as possible for you!

Love,
North

Turned out you were right, Kanika. Not enough levity lately, so this was a nice change.

I've been assured by a Great Master that women are going through a miraculous transformation presently...and that men are just barely hanging on.

P.S. My wife's grandmother's name was simply India. Nobody knows why, since they are all French and lived in the mountains of Virginia for generations. But it somehow suited her.

Hello Kanika,

I'm expecting a baby girl and I really like the name 'Aanya'

Can you please let me know what it means?

Hi Anila,
Sorry for the delay -- just read your post. As I mentioned earlier Aanya means "inexaustable" in Sanskrit. I think in Russian, Anya means "Gift from God." and I'm not sure about other meanings.

Glad you like the name! :)
Kanika