Ria or Tamanna? Raj or Srinivasa?

Published: www.yash.ca
On: September 9, 2008
At: Toronto, Canada

I came across The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Interpreter of Maladies), which evokes in me a lifelong balancing act to meld to a new world without forgetting the old. Just as the protagonist of the novel, American born Gogol, son of Indian immigrants, wants to find his place in the world, I hope that this cultural conflict is less pronounced with my son.

With strong Indian ties, I clearly want an Indian name for my baby boy. A name is not only an important thing in his new life, but also it represents my thoughts and feelings. It is a fun process, and at times frustrating. The name is going to help shape his personality, and it's definitely going to help if the meaning of his name is positive and lovely to sound.

In my nearly three years living in Canada, I have met a few Indians who have modified their name to spell it differently or even changed it to more Canadian! I don't like doing so, yet to each his own.

I rather keep a simple and sweet name from the start.I flip through various name books for inspiration. Yet, it seems elusive. Of an infinite pool of names, how do I select one that truly sum up my baby? To avoid my little one being subjected to a lifetime of sniggers, we have spent hours running through lists, shortlists, and definite no-no lists of baby names. I have made a list of things that I want and don't want in my baby's name:

Creative spelling
I definitely will not use my creativity to spell my son's name with a twist. I don't want him to spend a lifetime spelling his name to others, or worse, despise his name later. A name no one can pronounce can bring attention he would rather avoid.

Celebrity names
Even though it's fun to name a child Mallika or Mihir, I certainly don't want their celebrity status to affect my little one. What happens when a hot star turns into a flop star? Or worse, some aunt expecting my son to dance like Hrithik? Being inspired by a celebrity, and naming a child after him or her is treading on dangerous territory.

Short and sweet
The name should be easy to spell and pronounce. I plan to take a test - I will ask my Canadian colleagues/ or friends to pronounce it. Imagine a beautiful name like Poorvi is pronounced as Poor - vi!!!

Positive meaning
A name with positive meaning and energy will bring out the best in my child. When he grows up, will he not be flattered to know that his name means strong or wise?

Clashing with family name
Since my last name is a tongue twister, and middle name (i.e. my husband's name) is long as well, it is best to choose a short name. Follow the KISS rule - Keep it simple stupid. Often, longer first names work better with shorter last names, and vice versa.

Running out of time
Don't panic! In most Canadian provinces (I can speak of Toronto for sure) we get 30 days after the baby is born to register his name. So if I am planning to name him knowing his birth date and time, I have some time to decide.

However, none of these are hard and fast rules. The most important criterion is that hubby dear and I should like it! Once I have met my baby Krish, Arnav, or Aryan, it doesn't matter what his name is, and means. Because it will soon become my favourite name in the whole world.