Indian American names
What are Indian American names like?
Priya has the meaning “beloved”. Kiran comes from a word with several meanings, including “a ray of sunlight”.
Indian American families often carry two names for one child, a full name rooted in Sanskrit or a regional language for ceremony and family, and an easier nickname for American classrooms, think Aarav going by Rav. More parents now also choose names like Maya, Neil, or Anaya that need no shortening at all.
Where these names rank todayUnited States
Aadi first, beginning
Aahana commonly glossed as 'early dawn light' in baby-name references, though the precise Sanskrit root is debated
Aanya meaning uncertain
Aaradhya worship, first ray of the sun (surged in popularity after a well-known Bollywood family used it, echoed in the diaspora)
Aarav from Sanskrit ārava, "cry," "sound" or "noise"
Aarohi ascending musical scale; a lyrical modern favorite
Aditi boundless, entire; freedom, security; a mother goddess in ancient Sanskrit hymns
Aditya belonging to Aditi; a name of the Adityas, including the sun god Surya
Advait unique, non-dual
Aisha living or alive; borne by Aisha, a wife of the Prophet Muhammad and an early authority on accounts of his words and actions
Alia in Arabic use, Alia can stand for Alya ("sky, heaven, loftiness"), Aaliyah (the feminine of Aali, "high, lofty, sublime") or Aliya (the feminine of Ali, "lofty, sublime"); also borne by actor Alia Bhatt
Amaira modern coinage in the same family as Amara/Amira, meaning read as 'princess' or 'eternal' depending on spelling
Amar immortal
Amara immortal (also reads as the Latin/African name Amara; chosen for cross-cultural fit)
Amrit nectar; immortality, from Sanskrit amrita; in Sikh practice, amrit is the sweetened-water mixture used in initiation
Ananya unique, unparalleled
Anaya caring, compassionate (fast-rising 2020s pick)
Angad part of the body; famously borne by the second Sikh Guru
Anika grace, gracious (favored for reading naturally in both Hindi and English)
Anjali salutation; a reverent gesture made with joined hands
Ansh part, portion (of the divine)
Anushka grace; famously borne by Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma
Anvi often glossed as 'full of life' or 'earth-like' depending on regional spelling traditions
Arjun bright, shining; hero of the Mahabharata
Arman wish, desire; common in Indian Muslim American families
Arnav ocean, sea
Arya noble (a unisex pick whose popularity got an extra lift from Game of Thrones)
Aryaman a Vedic solar deity associated with hospitality and honor
Aryan traditionally 'noble' in Sanskrit; a widely used given name across Hindu Indian American families
Avni earth
Ayaan God's gift (common in Indian Muslim American families)
Ayesha alive, prosperous; the common alternate spelling of Aisha used widely in Indian Muslim American families
Darsh vision, sight
Deepak lamp; illuminating, from Sanskrit dipaka
Dev god, divine; from Sanskrit deva
Dhruv fixed, immovable (the pole star in Hindu myth)
Divya divine
Diya oil lamp, light
Faiz victory, bounty; common among Indian Muslim American families
Gauri fair one; a name of the goddess Parvati
Harleen absorbed in God; Punjabi har + lin
Harsh joy, happiness (an honest heritage meaning that reads as an unrelated English word, worth knowing before use in the US)
Imran a Quranic name; common among Indian Muslim American families
Inaya care, concern (rising choice among Indian Muslim American families)
Ira in Indian use a feminine name, Sanskrit "the Earth"; also Hebrew "watchful" (King David's priest, a Puritan-era American classic) and a Russian short form of Irina
Isha goddess, ruler (short and phonetic; an easy crossover pick)
Ishaan sun (a top crossover pick for its short, phonetic sound)
Ishani a feminine divine name; Ishani appears as a Durga and Shakti in Sanskrit sacred literature
Jaspreet virtuous love, in love with virtue (Sikh American unisex name)
Kabir great; famously borne by the 15th-century poet-saint Kabir, used across Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim Indian American families
Karan ear; also the name of a Mahabharata hero
Kavya poetry
Kiran from Sanskrit kirana: one sense is a ray or beam of light; other senses include dust and thread
Krish short form of Krishna
Leela divine play
Manav human, man
Maya illusion, magic (spelled identically to the mainstream American name; the classic Indian American crossover pick)
Meera sea, ocean; an Indian variant of Mira with a cultural association to the saint-poet Mirabai
Myra an English spelling some families borrow for Meera (Sanskrit mīra, "sea, ocean"); as an English name, a 17th-century literary coinage
Naina eyes
Neil champion (Irish name widely adopted by Indian American families as an English-sounding stand-in for Nilesh/Neel, both meaning "dark blue")
Nikhil whole, complete
Nisha night
Noor light; a warm unisex name used across Indian Muslim American families
Ojas vigor, vitality
Pari fairy, angel (short, easy crossover pick gaining favor in the 2020s)
Pranav the sacred syllable Om
Priya beloved, dear, favored; the Sanskrit adjective priya
Radha success, worship; the beloved consort of Krishna in Hindu mythology
Rahul efficient, capable
Rajesh king of kings (a common first-generation immigrant name, now often kept as a middle name)
Rani queen
Ravi sun in Sanskrit
Rayan gates of paradise (spelled to crossover smoothly with the American name Ryan)
Reyansh portion of the divine; ray of the sun (charting rapidly in U.S. records in the 2020s)
Rhea of unknown meaning; perhaps related to Greek rheo, "to flow", or era, "ground"; the name of Zeus’s mother in Greek mythology
Riya singer; graceful
Rohan ascension, from Sanskrit rohana
Saanvi goddess Lakshmi; knowledge (one of the fastest-climbing U.S. girl names in the 2020s)
Sameer companion in evening conversation
Sana brilliance, splendor (common in Indian Muslim American families)
Sara princess; a comfortable crossover pick in both Indian Muslim and mainstream American use
Shaurya valor, courage
Simran remembrance; a Sikh term in Nam Simran, a practice broader than meditation alone
Sitara star
Suhana pleasant, good; boosted in the diaspora by its use as a Bollywood family name
Suresh ruler of the gods; a common first-generation immigrant classic
Tara star (shares spelling with the Irish/English name Tara; a favorite dual-culture pick)
Trisha desire; also used as an anglicized short form
Vedant the essence and culmination of the Vedas
Veer brave, hero
Vihaan dawn, morning
Vikram stride, step; force, prowess, valor, from Sanskrit vikrama
Vivaan full of life (fast-rising 2020s pick)
Vivan full of life; a common alternate spelling of Vivaan
Yash fame, glory
Yuvraj crown prince
Zara flower, princess (common among Indian Muslim American families, spelled for easy crossover)
Zayn beauty, grace (a favorite among Indian Muslim American families, boosted further by crossover pop culture)
Zoya life, from the Greek zoe via the Russian form Zoya; popular among Indian Muslim American families
Which of these fits YOUR family? →