Pran, Prani

  • Origin: Sanskrit प्राण
  • Meaning: “breath of life; breath; life force.”

Pran is a male Indian given-name derived from the Sanskrit प्राण (prana), meaning, “breath; breath of life,” “life force” or, “vital energy.”

In Indian philosophy and yoga, prāṇa represents the universal life energy that animates all living beings.

The Thai feminine form Prani (ปราณี) combines this same Sanskrit root with the suffix -i, creating a meaning closer to “kind,” “merciful,” or “gracious.” In Thai and Pali contexts, Prani can also mean “a living being” or “one endowed with breath.” It is sometimes transcribed as Pranee.

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Smaya

young girl smiles receiving packet by The African Union Mission in Somalia is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
  • Origin: Sanskrit स्मय
  • Meaning: “smile; wonder; miracle; astonishment” also “arrogance and pride.”
  • May be a variant transciption of the Arabic, Sumeyya
  • Pron: (SMIGH-yuh), rhymes with Maya
  • Technically unisex in Indian culture; feminine in Arabic

The name has come into recent use in India. It is most likely derived from the Sanskrit word स्मय (smaya), meaning “smile, wonder; surprise; astonishment.” Yet, it can also mean “arrogance; pride.” It is from the same Indo-European root as the English word, “smile.” The Danish female name, Smilla, is also related. All of these are ultimately derived from Indo-European root *smey- (to laugh, be glad, wonder).

It’s mainly used as a female name, but it does appear as the name of male character in the Purana.

It can also be a variant transliteration of the Arabic female name, Sumeyya.

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Tvisha, Twisha

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  • Origin: Sanskrit त्विषा
  • Gender: feminine
  • Meaning: “splendour; light”
  • (TWEE-shah)

The name comes directly from the Sanskrit word त्विषा meaning “splendour; light.” It can be transliterated as Tvisha or Twisha.

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Sunaina

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  • Origin: Hindi
  • Meaning: “beautiful eyes”
  • Gender: Feminine
  • (soo-NAY-nah)

The name is composed of the Hindi words सुंदर (sundar), meaning “beautiful” and aina ऐन “eyes; mirror.” The name is borne by several Indian actresses, including Sunaina Yella.

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Yuvan, Yuvika

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  • masc (YOO-vahn); fem (YOO-vee-kah)

Yuvan is a masculine Indian name derived from the Sanskrit युवन् (yuvan), meaning “youth; strong; healthy.” A Hindi feminine form which shares the same root is Yuvika iयुविका, literally meaning “young girl.”

The latter is born by actress, Yuvika Chaudhary (b. 1983).

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Jashan

  • Origin: Hindi जशन
  • Meaning: “festivities.”
  • Gender: masculine
  • Pronunciation: JAH-shahn

The name comes directly from the Hindi word जशन meaning, “festivities.”

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Kayal

The name is a feminine Indian name that sounds identical to the male English surname & given-name, Kyle.

It can either be derived from the Hindi “कायल (convinced) or the Tamil கயல் which is the name of a species of fish endemic to the Indian subcontinent, known under the scientific term of cyprinus fimbriatus or the Fringed-lipped peninsula carp.

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Khushi

  • Origin: Persian, Hindi خوشی ख़ुशी
  • Meaning: “joy; happiness; mirth; delight.”
  • Gender: feminine
  • Pronunciation: (KUSH-shee)

The name is from the Hindi word ख़ुशी which means “joy; delight; mirth; happiness.” It is a borrowing from the Persian word خوشی of the same meaning.

Another transliteration is Kushi.

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Lakshmi, Laxmi

  • Origin: Sanskrit लक्ष्मी
  • Kannada: ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀ
  • Malayalam: ലക്ഷ്മി
  • Marathi/Hindi: लक्ष्मी
  • Odia: ଲକ୍ଷ୍ମୀ
  • Tamil: லட்சுமி
  • Telugu: లక్ష్మి
  • Meaning: “to perceive, observe, know, understand’ and ‘goal, aim, objective.”
  • Gender: feminine
  • LUCK-shmee

The name is derived from the Sanskrit lakṣ (लक्ष्) and lakṣa (लक्ष), meaning “to perceive, observe, know, understand’ and ‘goal, aim, objective.”

It is borne in Hinduism by the supreme goddess, wife of Vishnu, who is revered as the goddess of beauty, prosperity, luxury, contentment and among other things. She is known as Sri (the Noble One) and Akshara (imperishable), among other names. She is mentioned in the Rigveda as early as approximately 1000 BCE and is also revered in Buddhism and Jainism.

The name is mainly feminine, but is sometimes used among males in honour of the goddess in the same way that Mary, Maria, Marie has been used on males among Roman Catholics in honour of the Virgin Mary.

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Sariyah – meaning, origin & history of the first name

  • Origin: Arabic سارية
  • Urdu: سریا
  • Hindi:  सरिया
  • Bengla: সারিয়া
  • Meaning: “clouds at night.”
  • Gender: Female

Sariyah سارية is from an Arabic word that means “clouds at night.”

It is derived from the Arabic root S-R-A, and can be associated with “night rain” or “night travel.”

Saria and Sarya is the Urdu transliteration and is popular in Pakistan and India among Muslims.

Other forms include:

  • Sarija Сария (Abkhazian, Albanian, Azeri, Bashkir, Bosnian, Chechen, Circassian, Dagestani, Kazakh, Ossetian, Tajik)
  • Sәrija Сәрия (Tatar)

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