I know -- out of all the Shakespeare quotes that have become cliches, this one is prime. But really, since this post is about a name for my baby boy, I couldn't think of titling it any other way. So sue me.
Am in such a pissy mood these days, this post is one long whine. You've been warned.
Began my final trimester a week or so ago, and my mom's still bombarding me with baby boy names every time we talk. Which is, like, twice a week. Don't know what part of "it needs to be easy for non-desis to understand" that she just doesn't get. Her recent contribution: Moksh. Yeah, try that on any American and watch his eyes glaze. At least it was the first time she'd mentioned that one. She's been trying "Karan" for weeks now. OK, months. And I tell her for the gazillionth time, Karan's going to become "Karen" the first day of school and my 5-year-old boy will come home and murder his mom for naming him so thoughtlessly.
Who knew it was so hard to come up with desi names that's not only easy for non-desis to pronounce, but won't be perverted by the first obnoxious boy my boy meets? My husband's king of coming up with ways names can be perverted. He was the one to warn me about Karan/Karen. When we were thinking names for our daughter, it was he who pointed out how Anusha could be messed around with (Anus-ha, see? Duh Mommy!)
But even he couldn't have predicted how his friends' kid's name could be messed with. Our friends recently had a baby boy who they named Ravi. Simple? Check. Easy to pronounce? Check. So you would think. My daughter still calls him "Robbie." And how could one possibly come up with a way to tease a kid called Ravi? "Ravioli!" announced another friend -- a German-born American. Thanks, dude.
Thinking simplicity, I ran "Aditya" by some friends. They looked at me vacantly. And these are Thai-Americans, mind you, not themselves known for the easiest names. I tried "Varun" by a Filipino-American friend. Similar vacant look. She didn't even try to say it. Varun, for crying out loud. How much easier can one get?
After all this hullabaloo, we've come up with Rohan. Yeah, "row, row, row your boat..." but at least most people can say it OK. And it's got some coolness factor, thanks to The Lord of the Rings. Plus, it's kinda global: When we googled "Rohan," we came up with West Indians, Irish, Sri Lankans... works for us. Of course, my mom hates it. HATES it! So twice a week, she comes up with new ones to change our minds.
Which brings us back to square one. Moksh? God, I need some Nirvana...
26 comments:
hey, how does Megh sound? :)
I have a friend and her son's pretty nicely called thus. At the end of it, people will kill anything if they have to.
Try 'Keshav' = you'd think it's simple, but no - it became
Keeshaav
kayshyve
Keesha
..and the list goes on *sigh.
Just my 2 cents on names.
If you feel like some help, holler :)
While you should steer clear of names that are obviously 'corruptible', kids will get silly nicks whatever their names.
So don't worry about it so much - go with something simple that you like. Good luck!
My 2 cents!
Jay
Tej
Rads & Moppet's Mom: I see Megh becoming Meg super quick. And I feel your pain with Keshav :( But I agree with you two, in the end they'll get silly nicknames whatever you do. Just trying not to provide them with ammo. I should've mentioned a Nigerian acquaintance who named her daughter Chlamydia. LOL!
Pilgrim: I have a nephew named Jay, so that's out. Thanks for the input!
Hi,
Came here through MM blog, we named our son Rohan after watching Lord of the Rings, and also it’s a pretty common desi boys name here in US everybody seems to know it.
Namratha
Neel.
Show me one way to mess it up.
Wandered over here from madmomma's. Laughing my head off on this post of yours. I suffered so with my own given name during school years and vowed to give my kids all pronouncable, but still desi names. I think we succeeded, but there'll be a day when someone will make fun of them for something, not b/c of their name, not just b/c they're desi, but just b/c that's the way kids are.
Boys names to consider...Rayan (or Rayyan) (pronounced like the wester Ryan); Nikhil (watch out for "nickel" bastardization, although cute nickname Nik possible); Shaan; Nayan; Arun (which becomes Aaron I'm afraid); Vijay (thanks to the golfer; also means victorious one which is not bad to start off one's life).
Hope this doesn't increase your confusion but these are some names we considered and we chose one of them.
mmmm. I like Rohan.
How about Rowan or Ronan.
Just throwing it out there. You will make a good choice.
Namratha: Thanks for letting me know! It's good to know that other Rohans out there aren't having issues :)
Terri: Neel's name of friend's dead kiddo. Long sad story.
Desimom: We love Nikhil, but it's the name of another nephew. (We have a lot of nephews.) Thanks for the great suggestions!
Crazymumma: Yay! Another vote for Rohan! I think we may have a winner there.
We chose "Sahaj" in case the baby was a boy (we didn't find out the gender). I used to joke that with all the trouble I went through to conceive this one, I should name him "Asahaj" :D You can pick either. LOL!!
oh ouch. just saw ur comment. did not mean to put you in a spot at all :) which is what you've gone and done to me now. how about Jai, Vir (is it obvious I am a Sholay fan?)Neel, Shiv, - peace?! :)
as for bastardization - kids do that everywhere. all over the world. to all names. its part of growing up i think. and my dad who is tamilian, cannot pronounce my very north indian name so he has his own twist to it, which has become my nick.
How about Dev? Dave should be acceptable right?
But seriously, I agree with MM. How does it matter? Kids will be kids. And they will ruin perfectly acceptable names.
I names my daughter after long consideration to nicks and I missed a pronounication in Hindi !
Let me tell you mom all names are corruptible, and you do not have to go out of India to have it corrupted and misunderstood. I am called Diya but everyone from my teachers to college officials to bank personnel write or say 'Divya' before I correct them. Some frieds of mine used to call me Diu, and I had to hear comments like 'diya jalao' and a doctor 'diya? tumne mujhe kya diya' and that was the only time when I had felt like killing somebody. I had been running fever and was not in the mood for jokes on my name. So let me assure you Karan or Kunal, Rohit or Rohan corruption there will be. You must prepare the child to deal with it since you cannot control the mind of the corruptor.
I named my son Dhimaan, we have looked at all corruptions Demon, Dhimn Dhim sum, but we are unfazed we will prepare the little chap to stand up for his name and be happy about it.
muser,
chipping in the naming game:
Since you like Nikhil, what about Nakul (one of Ram Lakshman brothers)? Nitin perhaps?
Bharath?
Vasudev
Sidarth. Sidanth.
Ramesh
Arjun
========
not much weeks left now, huh. Sending good wishes along, muser.
How about Balakrishnan Ramachandran
GTN/Cee Kay and Upsi: Thanks for the name suggestions! Love Siddharth/Siddhant (who'll become Sid of course) and Arjun -- I already know four.
Mad Momma: Wow, that was a coincidence, wot? Love Sholay myself, so Jai and Vir are cool, perhaps too cool for us. Plus have a nephew whose name is similar to Jai. My nephews seem to have hogged all the good names. And Poppins, I agree that kids will bastardize all names anyway. I just don't want to make their jobs easier :)
Diya: We actually considered your name for our daughter, but my husband had those precise objections "kya diya?" You must be so sick of it. And if you're unfazed by the Dhimaan corruptions, who am I to differ? More power to you!
Pilgrim: Merci beaucoup!
You know kids will make up silly nicknames anyway, but obviously it's best to steer clear of names that would be obvious targets. How about Ayan or Ishan?
Thanks, Mystic!
a muser:
re: diya's comment - my aunt had gone to get my cousin, harsha's (not harsha bhogle) name registered on the family ration card or some such. she was aghast to see 'harsha - mulgi' written on it!!
pilgrim:
ha ha - a few weeks ago, i believe i suggested 'babruvahana' ('baab' for short!). ;-)
- s.b.
p.s.: for non-maharshtrians, 'mulgi' = 'daughter' (or is it girl?)
LOL, s.b.! Can you translate what "babruvahana" is? ;0
a muser:
long long ago, i read this amar chitra katha - uloopi - which had this tongue twister of a character (in the long form -the abridged version will work out great in the us of a!). when i put that suggestion just before we had our first born, the norms were the same as yours - needs to be an indian name, able to be pronounced either in full form or short by a redneck, i.e., it needs a unisyllable version!
of course, there was some p.(rivate, thankfully) d. - definitely not of a. - when i brought up that name.
- s.b.
p.s.: i thought no one else would have ever heard of the name; of course, i thought wrong. some kannada movie director has made a movie with that title too! i don't know whether it is a religious movie or not.
You mean you didn't end up choosing "babruvahana" for your firstborn? Lucky me, or should I say my lucky boy...:)))
a muser:
one of my other candidate names was approved [as agreed, v.b. named our second born (daughter)]. i suggested katyayini ('kat' or 'katya' for short), but it was summarily dismissed - so, for other expectant mothers and fathers, that name is still 'available' :-).
how about 'mithun' ('mitt' for short)? greatbong might even sign you an autograph!
seriously speaking, how about sundar or krishna or sanjay? true story - a couple of years ago, my son had a classmate in daycare whose father is indian and mother american; his name was jason, and converts to 'sanjay' when he is with his indian side of the family. sanjay/jason, get it?
- s.b.
s.b., that is so creative! am almost tempted to name him jason/sanjay, just so i can pretend that i thought that up! but i think we may stick to rohan. it's gotten fairly good reviews from everybody -- except my mom -- and we love that name!
Ok, my two cents on Name The Baby. Kanishk, Aditya (can't get enough of the sun guy), and Aarohan- love that name!
But you're probably calling him Rohan already :)
Prat, yes I've already begun thinking of him as Rohan. But I love Aditya! He's a middle name option.
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