When a baby is born in a family, the whole family is excited about the name he/she would be given. Most often, especially if they are first time parents, parents would have decided the name in advance, right?
These days, however, there is a huge race to give the baby a name which is highly unusual, absolutely exotic, and hence, at times, truly funny. One of my students was "Vedanshi". Logically, just an impossible name it is for a girl. "Vedansh" , to begin with, means "the fourth part of the " Veda". It cannot be feminised with an "i". Similarly, "Ishanwi" may sound cute, but is absolutely meaningless!
Let us look at names for girls such as "Dhanwita" or "Sahassika" or "Sitaishaa". Says Nityanand Mishra, a Sanskrit scholar, neither Sanskrit grammar nor Sanskrit semantics would allow such oddities. Similarly, boys, he says, cannot be named "Krushiw" or "Govindit"!
Then there are names which are actually masculine, but are reserved for girls by indulgent but ignorant parents. One such classic example is "Savita", a vocative conjugation of "Savitru" which means the sun!
The fancy "Nikita" is a Russian male name, while your "Anita" is nothing but "Ana + ita", a diminutive of 'Ana'! "Rajiwa" cannot be a girl's name as it cannot even be the vocative of "Rajiw"! And, oh, yes, actually, it should be spelt as "Rajiv" or "Rajeev"!!!
Yes, names must be unique. They must, however, be linguistically possible, too, right? Giving a name to a baby need not get reduced to calling names, right? Naming need not be shaming, and that, too, for a lifetime!
Pratima@ Names are lifelong. They assign an identity. Names are power. Choose carefully because words have grammatical relevance, and, not to forget, meaning! Better okay be the nomenclature!
Quote of the day: "A name represents identity, a deep feeling, and holds tremendous significance for its owner," asserts Rachel Ingbert.
Word of the day: nomenclature Nomenclature is the system of naming things, especially in science.
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