What is there in a name? Call the rose by any name and it will smell like a rose. It looks very simple but it is not so. I am associated with an organization, having hundreds of ladies but I did not find any named Sita. This compelled me to think over the reasons and I came to a conclusion that the very name of an individual, I mean either sex, tells a lot of history, geography, culture and many such things.
There is a story in the Indian mythology. It says that Sajan, a butcher by profession, achieved deliverance because while taking his last breath, he called his son Narayan and it is said to be a great thing to take the name of Lord while dying. Thus the benefit unwittingly accrued to him. Taking a cue from this incident, in Hindu families, children started being named after heavenly figures like Ram, Sita, Krishna, Bharat, Kaushalya etc. But after the 20th century set in, this attitude took a nose dive. With modern education, people started discarding the logic that even if one was disvirtuous for the whole life, by simply taking God's name at the end would lead him to heaven. The Manusmriti has prescribed how a new born should be named. The modern crop is not amused.
One does not like to be named as Sita because it has a rustic tinge despite the real Sita standing for all virtues of womanhood. Manthara of Ramayan and Draupadi of Mahabharat are also no more in demand for known reasons. Famous Ram bhakt Hanuman may be preferred but another great devotee of Ram, Vibhishan is no more liked for reasons known to all. Strangely enough, Radha is popular among the youth even today not only for her unstinted devotion to Krishna but also romantic aspects (Ras-Lila). After the mid 20th century, family call names took English turns and thus Sonu, Monu, Bunty, Santy etc are still household names. Even in the families of traditional pundits such names are not despised at.
In educated families, now a days sanskritised names, though with freedom of spelling are getting preference. Surendra of Bihar, UP, MP and Rajasthan becomes Surinder in Punjab and Suren in West Bengal. The moment such a name is heard, one can roughly deduce the background of the family as well as geography. The legendary ex-President of Indonesia was named as Sukarno. He had told Pt. Nehru that the Mahabharat's Karn had some blemishes and hence his parents named him as Sukarno (Sukarn). In the beginning, in Bollywood, non-Hindu actors preferred a Hindu name to appease the majority community. Yusuf Khan became Dilip Kumar. Even Jayant and Jagdip were Muslims. With democracy taking deep roots here, no such euphemism is perceptible. On the other hand in Punjab , J&K and most of South, people prefer to add thier parents as well as villages' names and thus like in Saudi Arabia, their names become quite long.
Thus, the lesson drawn is that the name is just not a fun. It may denote shame, fame and other associated matters. So, while naming a new born, let us keep all these angles in view before putting the stamp of name on him.
There is a story in the Indian mythology. It says that Sajan, a butcher by profession, achieved deliverance because while taking his last breath, he called his son Narayan and it is said to be a great thing to take the name of Lord while dying. Thus the benefit unwittingly accrued to him. Taking a cue from this incident, in Hindu families, children started being named after heavenly figures like Ram, Sita, Krishna, Bharat, Kaushalya etc. But after the 20th century set in, this attitude took a nose dive. With modern education, people started discarding the logic that even if one was disvirtuous for the whole life, by simply taking God's name at the end would lead him to heaven. The Manusmriti has prescribed how a new born should be named. The modern crop is not amused.
One does not like to be named as Sita because it has a rustic tinge despite the real Sita standing for all virtues of womanhood. Manthara of Ramayan and Draupadi of Mahabharat are also no more in demand for known reasons. Famous Ram bhakt Hanuman may be preferred but another great devotee of Ram, Vibhishan is no more liked for reasons known to all. Strangely enough, Radha is popular among the youth even today not only for her unstinted devotion to Krishna but also romantic aspects (Ras-Lila). After the mid 20th century, family call names took English turns and thus Sonu, Monu, Bunty, Santy etc are still household names. Even in the families of traditional pundits such names are not despised at.
In educated families, now a days sanskritised names, though with freedom of spelling are getting preference. Surendra of Bihar, UP, MP and Rajasthan becomes Surinder in Punjab and Suren in West Bengal. The moment such a name is heard, one can roughly deduce the background of the family as well as geography. The legendary ex-President of Indonesia was named as Sukarno. He had told Pt. Nehru that the Mahabharat's Karn had some blemishes and hence his parents named him as Sukarno (Sukarn). In the beginning, in Bollywood, non-Hindu actors preferred a Hindu name to appease the majority community. Yusuf Khan became Dilip Kumar. Even Jayant and Jagdip were Muslims. With democracy taking deep roots here, no such euphemism is perceptible. On the other hand in Punjab , J&K and most of South, people prefer to add thier parents as well as villages' names and thus like in Saudi Arabia, their names become quite long.
Thus, the lesson drawn is that the name is just not a fun. It may denote shame, fame and other associated matters. So, while naming a new born, let us keep all these angles in view before putting the stamp of name on him.
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