Indian Jewish history is fascinating, diverse and ancient. Indian Jews are part of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, believed to date back all the way to the 9th century BCE. Historically, there have been multiple Jewish communities in India, with the largest ones being the Cochin Jews, Bene Israel, Paradesi Jews and Baghdadi Jews, who settled in locales such as Mumbai, Kondungallur and Chennai.
Jews in India had their own languages and dialects, including Judeo-Malayalam, Judeo-Marathi and Judeo-Urdu, most of which today are unfortunately endangered languages. Additionally, with Jews who moved to India historically from countries such as Iraq, the Netherlands and the Caribbean, so many Indian Jews were given first names from languages such as Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish. There was even a small arrival of refugees during and after the Holocaust from other European countries as well, so languages such as German entered the mix of nomenclatures.
Many Indian Jews preserve traditions that have existed in their families and communities for hundreds of years, such as ersatz wine for kiddush due to historic alcohol prohibition in parts of India, as well as making special Jewish holiday foods, such as the Shabbat bread appam or chik-cha-halwa, a sweet made from coconut milk and wheat extract.
Today, the Indian Jewish community is more dispersed — Mumbai has the largest Jewish community in the country with about 3500 Jews, but thousands of Jews left India in previous decades for countries such as Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom. Still, many Indian Jews outside of India today opt to use names that honor their heritage.
There are also many families that have one Indian parent and one Jewish parent who are looking for names that work in both contexts. This can be a particular challenge in that India has a breathtaking range of languages within the country itself, including Hindi, Kannada, Bengali and Tamil. Additionally, there are quite a number of religions in India too, including Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, which also plays a role in finding an appropriate baby name.
In this list, there are some ideas for names that overlap with Hebrew or Yiddish naming traditions as well as one or more languages used in modern-day India.
Boys’ names
Aadi/Adi: “first” in Sanskrit, “jewel/ornament” in Hebrew (can be gender neutral as a Hebrew name)
Amir: “prosperous” in Urdu, “treetop” in Hebrew
Ari: “sun-like” in Badaga, “lion” in Hebrew
Avi: “my father” in Hebrew, can be a nickname for the Hindi name Avinash
Amit: “infinite” in Hindi, Malayalam and Telugu, “friend” in Hebrew
Dhani/Dani: “rich” in Hindi, can be a nickname for the Hebrew name Daniel
Kannan/Kenan: “the one who is to be seen” in Tamil and Malayalam, a figure from the Torah in Hebrew
Ira: “watchful” in Hebrew, “wind” in Hindi (can be a unisex name)
Mamun/Maimon: “trustworthy” in Bengali, “lucky/fortune” in Aramaic
Nissim: for Nissim Ezekiel, famed Indian Jewish poet and playwright in postcolonial India
Ram/Raam: “pleasing” in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and Telugu, “thunder” in Hebrew
Ravi: “sun” in Hindi, could be a nickname for the Hebrew name Raviv meaning “rain”
Sarmad: for Sarmad Kashani, Indian Jewish poet and mystic from the 17th century
Girls’ names
Amrita: for Amrita Sher-Gil, pioneering Indian Jewish painter of the early 20th century
Ayla/Eila: “earth” in Marathi, “oak” in Hebrew
Dara/Dhara: “pearl of wisdom” in Hebrew, “earth” in Hindi
Flora: for Flora Sassoon, an Indian Jewish scholar, businesswoman and early promoter of the cholera vaccine
Laya/Leah: “rest” in Telugu, “delicate/weary” in Hebrew
Leena/Lina: “absorbed, united” in Hindi, Marathi and Malayalam, “dwelling” in Hebrew
Maya: “illusion or magic” in Sanskrit, “spring or brook” in Hebrew
Meena/Mena: “fish” in Sanskrit, a Ladino girl’s name
Mira: “ocean” in Hindi, “rising water” in Hebrew
Rani: “queen” in Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali, “my song/my joy” in Hebrew
Ruby: after Ruby Myers, pioneering Indian Jewish actress
Sarala: “straight” in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew name Sara
Shayli: “flower” in Marathi, the name of the contemporary Bene Israel community magazine
Sima: “boundary/limit” in Hindi, Bengali and Marathi, “treasure” in Yiddish
