What's in a Name?

The answer: I don't know, since we still haven't picked one out.

We had just as hard a time picking out Kiran's name, which means 'ray of light' in Hindi. Given that I had just had a very dark year, he was indeed my ray of light. This time around, I'm still stumped. I've looked at lists of Spanish names to represent my side of his heritage, but I hate all the Spanish names I've seen. I mean, there are about ten male Spanish names that are used over and over again, and does the world really need another Miguel?
American names are okay, but the naming websites are ridiculously full of Aidens, Braedens, and Jadens. So. We are back to considering Indian names, which we weren't going to do a second time, but there you have it.

We have a list going, and although I know that most parents are pretty tight-lipped about their naming choices prior to the birth, I'm putting ours out there and asking--no, begging--for advice and suggestions. So...In order of preference (the top names R and I have both agreed to liking), here is the name roll....I will even post a poll for you to vote on which you like best! Because my brain is overloaded with names and I have no sense left to make a good decision.

Naveen (means 'new' in Hindi. Also reminds most people of Naveen Andrews, but I'm not complaining.)
Ashwin (means 'first star at twilight' in Hindi, as well as being the name of Sarah McLauchlin's ex-husband. We would probably call him Ash, which sounds like a cool rocker name, a plus in R's book.)
Kai (vaguely ethnic, which is what our kid would be. My reservation is that it would be a bit too matchy with Kiran)
Avi or Ravi (Avi would probably be short for Avinash, a popular Indian boy's name)
Rohan (means 'to attain great heights' in Sanskrit; also a Lord of the Rings reference)

Okay, that's all we've got. And I've got about twelve weeks to decide.

Comments

Melusine said…
I love Ashwin. What a beautiful meaning. Ash is a cool nickname,too.

If your interested in other meanings, the Ash is a very powerful tree in Irish and English folklore. It's the opener of the way to the spirit world and the symbol of high-mindedness and intellect. It's also associated with music and poetry, as well as with the magician Taliesen, who in turn has been associated with Krishna.

In Norse folklore the World Tree is an Ash.

A cool name in any culture!
mamireads said…
Wow--thanks for your knowledge! That is awesome--I had heard things here and there about the significance of the ash tree, but didn't know all that--how perfect! All right, one tally mark for Ash.