Indian names - need help.

technoyos

Hi All
I have a question regarding indian names - I found out that one name can be spelled in many different ways, and I was wondering which names are the "real" names.
Here is a list of some names:

ABHISEK
ABHISEKH
ABHISHEK
ABISHEK
ABHISHAK
ABHISHEKH

and

ABHIJIT
ABHIJEET
AVIJIT
ABHIJET
ABJEED

and

AFJAL
AFZAL
AFSAL
ABZAL

For each of these 3 "clusters" of names - which is the correct one?

Thank You
Technoyos

sirensongs

Depends on which transliteration rules you're following...since they're not English words, which spelling in the English alphabet is "correct" is an open question. I would say that ABHISHEKH is the most commonly accepted one of the first bunch, ABHIJIT of the second and I really don't know the third...but I know that Hindi conflates "J" and "Z". (Zail Singh and Jail Singh are considered "the same")

__________________
"Why do people go to India to find themselves? India is where you go to lose yourself."
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vmehra24

The various spellings arent arbitrary but follow differing
pronouciation of the same Hindi word in different dialect areas.
Eg rustic people in West UP pronounce 'sh' as 's'
while in Bengal 's' is pronounced as 'sh'
Similarly 'v'-'b', 'z'-'j' fluctuation.

sirensongs

Yes, there are many regional pronunciation differences but there are *also* different spelling systems. The name of Krishna can also be correctly spelt Krsna, for instance - depending on the spelling convention being followed.

Spicydame

The correct spelling is ABHIJITH.

Any clues on how you would spell the very common South Indian name Subramanian? The various spellings available are as follows:

SUBRAMANIAN
SUBRAMONIAN
SUBRAMANYAN
SUBRAMONYAN

All fine so long as one does not write SUBRAM-ONION

gypsichief

The pronounciation changes depending on which part of india the person is from and when u try to spell it in english the spelling differs.

rajeev1008

In northern india (delhi centric), the correct speelings would be:
ABHISHEK (thats how the small B spells it
ABHIJEET (it sounds like sleep / deep)
AFZAL (as some one pointed out, Z an j are same in Hindi , but different in Urdu, and northerns would pronounce these differently )

himmat01

I have noticed that South Indians tend to add the letter "S" after "T" in names having the letter "T"

Kavita becomes Kavitha
Savita becomes Savitha
Jyoti becomes Jyothi
My own name Himmat is spelled as Himmath.

sirensongs

I've always seen it Subramaniam....as the violin maestro (who realli is one of *my* gods) spells it this way I will stick with it....:-)

batistuta

I would go with the first one there,Subramanian which is the one i have come across more often.

rangss

Ah! English! That funny language!

It does not matter how you spell the name in English. Given the craze amongst Indians for numerology, names will never be the same. To add to the confusion is the phonetic differences between various Indian languages.

Stick to pronounciation.

__________________
...and I took the road less travelled.

Lugubert

You forgot Subrahmanian, which is my first try.

Indian spellings could generate loads of doctoral theses. Not only things like the geographical split b/v mentioned, there are all those less scientific renderings like Punjab for Pañjab, and any number in Rudyard Kipling's books that to a non-English speaker are perfectly non-transparent until you crack the code. Umballa for Amballa, Huneefa (woman's name) for Hanifa etc. etc. To this, you could add the frequent reversing of syllables, like I've heard in Delhi: Ugarsen ki baoli for Ugrasen ki baoli, Truckman Gate for Turkman Gate. And Kipling quotes a native's Nucklao for Lucknow for Lakhnao.

crvlvr

Why just Indian names? Many english words that sound similar are spelled differently. For examples, check out http://www.say-it-in-english.com/SpellHome.html