The Indian equivalent of Madison or Jacob

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Are you expecting a child soon? Since it’s a well known fact that all Indian kids in the U.S. look alike through college, do your kids a favor and heed the following advice so that they have at least a minor shot at individuality. DO NOT name them Arjun or Maya. The Hindustan Times reports:

Arjun, the warrior-prince of the Mahabharata, and Maya were the most popular names given to baby boys and girls respectively by Indians in the United States.

The name Arjun was given to 247 boys last year, ranking it 741 in the list of 1,000 most popular baby names in the US, compiled by the Department of Social Security Administration.

I now await hate mail from Arjuns and Mayas worldwide. Please, don’t hate the messenger.

7 thoughts on “The Indian equivalent of Madison or Jacob”

  1. I keep hearing about little Rohans in this next generation. And what, no crossover success for Neil, Jay or Dev? Perhaps the HT didn’t recognize them as desi names.

  2. I think the problem with those names is they can be spelled differently, Manish. I know Jays and Jais, Devs, and Daves and Devas, and Nils, Neils, Neals, and Neels. “Arjun” is about the only way you can really spell that. Me and my buddy Rishi actually discovered this independantly when trying to crack the Baby Name Voyager . . .after about a half hour, Rishi finally found Arjun in it.

    Yeah, I totally wanted to name a kid Rohan, but I think it will be way used by the time I can even think of having children. Geeky reason why: then my grandchildren can be Rohirrim and friends can be “Riders of Rohan!”

  4. The real question is, how many Asians are naming their kids after Indian celebs? My friend’s cousin named her baby Raghav last autumn, which made my friend practically die of shame. Are there loads of mini Aishwaryas and Hrithiks running around? 😉

  5. -a cousin named her daughter Kareena. If they have another girl next, they plan on naming her Karishma. I love bollywood more than the next guy, sadly to admit, but I may throw up if it comes to fruition.

  6. I have a little niece named Maya. It’s a nice name, easy to spell, and the goras can’t mispronounce it, hence its popularity. One of Bob Marley’s sons is called Rohan: I’ve always wondered how a Rastafarian ended up with an Indian name, but there’s a small Indian presence in Jamaica, and there was a famous Indo-Caribbean cricketer called Rohan, so maybe that’s how.

  7. What does Kareena mean? Does it have an Indian/Sanskrit origin or root?

    I love the name ‘Joya’.