Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The White Hindu

Home
Hindu
How To Pronounce Indian Names

How To Pronounce Indian Names

Last updated on: January 28, 2016 at 11:49 pm by Ambaa Choate

How To Pronounce Indian Names 2016-01-28T23:49:39-05:00 Ambaa Choate

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A friend of mine was complaining recently that people go out of their way to avoid saying her name and it causes unnecessary confusion. She made a great educational video on how to say her name. I was surprised at first hearing that she had this problem because to me Indian names are mostly pretty straightforward. But I realized that, of course, I have a great deal of familiarity with them. That was not always the case and so I thought I might be able to help demystify Indian names for other non-Indian Westerners.

See the video here: https://www.facebook.com/anupama.pillalamarri/posts/10153353632925662

I think what happens is that Westerners with no connection to India see an Indian name and they panic. Most of us are used to reading whole words at a time. When we see a word we don’t have to sound out each letter, we know what it is. When one is unfamiliar with Indian names one just sees a pile of letters with no idea where to start to untangle them. But it’s actually really simple.

(You know what names are really hard for Americans to pronounce? Irish names! Siobhan=Shiv-on, Garrioch=Ger-rick, Saoirse=???, Caoimhe= no idea. Indian names are WAY easier, I promise!)

My tip here is not going to necessarily get you pronouncing your Indian friends and coworkers’ names perfectly but it will get you very close. You’ll be in the ballpark enough that they will be able to give you small corrections and I suspect most will very much appreciate the effort. You can ask if they have a nickname, but don’t assume and just say part of their name. I encourage you to ask if they can write it down for you if you’re in person so that you can more easily see the syllables.

When you encounter an Indian name, break it down by syllable.
An “a” is almost always “ahhh” sound (thought sometimes an “uh” sound) and an “i” is often an “ee”, particularly at the end of the name (as is standard transliteration).
Most, though not all, will have the emphasis on the first syllable

Anupama = A-nu-pa-ma = AH-nu-pah-mah

Anuradha = A-nu-rad-ha = AH-nu-rahd-haa

Siddharth = Sidd-harth = Sid-haar-t (you’ll have to ask the person about the final syllable. Even though in Indian languages the “th” sound is an aspirated “t” rather than the English “th” sound I have found that some Americans with this name prefer to pronounce it with an English “th” sound).

Manoj = Man-oj = Maan-oh-j

Devika =De-vi-ka = DAY-vee-kaa

Akshay = Ak-shay = AAK-shay

Akash = A-kash = AAH-kaash

Arjun = Ar-jun = AR-joon

Jaya = Ja-ya = JAY-yaa

Teja = Te-ja = TAY-zhaa

Prakash = pra-kash = PRAH-kaash

Karthik = Kar=thik = KAR-tick

Vivek = Vi-vek = VEEV-ache

Prashant = Pra-shant = PRA-shaan-t

Aditya = A-dit-ya = AAH-deet-yaa

Venkatesh = Ven-ka-tesh = VENK-aah-teh-sh

Balaji = Ba-la-ji = BA-la-jee

Ramamoorthi = Ra-ma-moor-thi = RA-ma-moor-tee

Advaita = Ad-vai-ta = AAH-d-vai-ta

Manisha = Ma-ni-sha = MAAN-ee-shah

Gangadhar = Gan-ga-dhar = GAAN-ga-daar

Srivani =Shi-va-ni = SHREE-vaa-nee

Purvi =Pur-vi = POOR-vee

Anjali = An-ja-li = AAHN-jaa-lee

Puja =Pu-ja = POO-jaa

Chandani = Chan-da-ni = CHAAN-da-nee

Hemanth = He-manth = HEY-maan-t

Aditi = A-di-ti = AAH-dee-tee

Raghuveer = Rag-hu-veer = RAAG-hoo-veer

Aishwarya = Aish-war-ya = AI-sh-war-yaa (kind of like ICE-sh-war-yaa)

And let’s try some last names…

Bacchan = Baa-ch-chaan

Deshpande = Day-sh-paan-dee

Rajan = RAA-jaan

Chowdhury = Chow-dhoo-ree

Srinivasan = Sri-naa-vaa-saan

Battacharya = Baat-taa-chaar-yaa

Gupta = Goop-taa

Subramanian = Soob-raa-maan-ian

Just break down the syllables and pretty soon Indian names will start looking familiar and easy to you!

Wild Card

how to pronounce indian names

how to say indian names

Previous Post

January 14, 2016

The Newest White Hindu

Next Post

January 17, 2016 Death of a Friend: Six Years Later

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Club Hindu Holiday How Am I Being a Hindu This Week? Inside the Life Meet a God Meet a Guru Movie Club Philosophy Corner Resources Scripture Uncategorized Wild Card

Select a Month February 2020 September 2019 May 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who built the first temple for God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Pilate Solomon David