Tamil Baby Names
The birth of the child is about rejoicing. Customs for welcoming the new born is varied in each state of India, though the commonality of happiness is the same everywhere.
In the south, especially so in the Tamilian community, tradition exists to name the child as per the name of his grandparents. Most names are quite a mouthful and the correct pronunciation is very difficult. The names also are extremely lengthy and hence a short name often arises.
Most south Indians have two names one being the official name and the other at home. Neelakanthan Iyer is known as Dorai at home. Shubalaxmi is known as Lata to her relatives.
Tamilians believe in the nakshatra or star birthday which schedules as per the prevailing religious month. Most new borns wear new clothes after the 11th day after the birth and this is also when the ear of the child is pierced. Each tradition is about belief though modern trends are also seen.
A cosmopolitan culture and cross culture marriages have necessitated the need to incorporate an Indian name rather than bifurcate it as a state recognition. Sarvesh, Khushi, Shweta and Rahul are common names from the south. Though for the ‘peru iddal’ or the naming ceremony the name whispered in the child’s ear by the maternal aunt is often the name of the grandparent. For official purposes, the names are used as modern and recent ones.
Aarav, Arin, Revan and Shristri are common metro tamilian names. The surnames however cannot be chosen though people also tend to use the surname as Srivastava or Kaushik which refers to the gotra of the person.
Surnames related to Iyers, Nadars, Chettiars, Pillai. Another cross border community hailing from Palaghat – Kerala has the mingling of Malyalam and Tamil origin. The most common names in the Tam-Brahm community are Laxmi, Vidya, Lata, Renuka to a more recent Anagha, Avani, Anisha or Megha.
Pet names in the Tamilian culture is very common as the real or official names is not practical as most of them are lengthy like the Narayanan, Vijayakumaran, Venkataraman, Saraswathy, Vijayam, Rajalakshmi or Siva Ramakrishnan.
Hence the pet names are used or the names are shortened as Sachhu for Saraswathy, Kumar for Vijayakumar, Nanu for Narayanan, Jaya for Vijayam, Raji for Rajalakshmi or Rama for Siva Ramakrishnan.