New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesWestern names in India
A very broad heading for a narrow query ...
In the India squad for the Twenty20 cricket world championship (now happening in South Africa but not in my home town, alas) there is a player called Robin Uthappa. He seems to be the only member of the squad with a Western name, and I also seem to recall that a few years ago there was another Indian player who was also named Robin, though I forget his surname. Robin Singh, perhaps?
It seems odd that, of all names, Robin should have caught on among cricket-loving Indian parents. Might there be an Indian name which looks (or sounds) a bit like Robin but is not related to it? Maybe Rohan? Or, could some person named Robin have caught the imagination of Indian parents? It isn't a Christian name, so it seems unlikely that it might be used as a religious label ... as Mohammed and Joseph often are.
All the best
Anneza, keeping her interest alive when rain stops play
In the India squad for the Twenty20 cricket world championship (now happening in South Africa but not in my home town, alas) there is a player called Robin Uthappa. He seems to be the only member of the squad with a Western name, and I also seem to recall that a few years ago there was another Indian player who was also named Robin, though I forget his surname. Robin Singh, perhaps?
It seems odd that, of all names, Robin should have caught on among cricket-loving Indian parents. Might there be an Indian name which looks (or sounds) a bit like Robin but is not related to it? Maybe Rohan? Or, could some person named Robin have caught the imagination of Indian parents? It isn't a Christian name, so it seems unlikely that it might be used as a religious label ... as Mohammed and Joseph often are.
All the best
Anneza, keeping her interest alive when rain stops play
1
Replies
No idea about Robin Uthappa. But, if I remember correctly, his father was a hockey (i.e. field hockey) player, and was quite familiar with the name ... no help here.
But the famous cricketer called Robin Singh was born in Trinidad in 1963 (and he played quite some time back: but since we are tracing name usages, this might be important) and his first name is officially Rabindra, but he presumably made it Robin to let people with a speech impediment (which is what the entire western world looks to us Indians :-) pronounce it. Rabindra is an old name: ravi (said to be from ru, to bellow, cognate with e.g. Latin raucus; ravi is an oldish Sanskrit word) means the sun and was used as a name for more than a thousand years; and indra I have discussed elsewhere (e.g. http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=2885539&board=gen). ravIndra has also been used for a long time, most famously today by rabIndranAtha ThAkur (Rabindranath Tagore as he wrote his name in English) who got the nobel prize for literature, though the word has not been used to my knowledge except as a name (or figuratively as a great talent). The -v- -b- alternation is because in eastern part of India the labio-dental has become bilabial.
But the famous cricketer called Robin Singh was born in Trinidad in 1963 (and he played quite some time back: but since we are tracing name usages, this might be important) and his first name is officially Rabindra, but he presumably made it Robin to let people with a speech impediment (which is what the entire western world looks to us Indians :-) pronounce it. Rabindra is an old name: ravi (said to be from ru, to bellow, cognate with e.g. Latin raucus; ravi is an oldish Sanskrit word) means the sun and was used as a name for more than a thousand years; and indra I have discussed elsewhere (e.g. http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=2885539&board=gen). ravIndra has also been used for a long time, most famously today by rabIndranAtha ThAkur (Rabindranath Tagore as he wrote his name in English) who got the nobel prize for literature, though the word has not been used to my knowledge except as a name (or figuratively as a great talent). The -v- -b- alternation is because in eastern part of India the labio-dental has become bilabial.
1
So there could be a link between (the names of) Robin Singh, Robin Uthappa and Ravi Shastri!
It's also quite possible, I would think, that young Rabindra Singh took the line of least resistance and used the pronunciation that his friends found easier to cope with.
Fascinating that the sun and bellowing are linked; in The Road To Mandalay, Kipling says that the dawn comes up like thunder ... could that be coincidence, I wonder?
And v b is a familar shift; Barbara/Varvara, Deborah/Devorah, Abraham/Avram ... interesting to know it happens in India as well.
Thanks so much for all this; must admit, I hoped you'd answer!
All the best
It's also quite possible, I would think, that young Rabindra Singh took the line of least resistance and used the pronunciation that his friends found easier to cope with.
Fascinating that the sun and bellowing are linked; in The Road To Mandalay, Kipling says that the dawn comes up like thunder ... could that be coincidence, I wonder?
And v b is a familar shift; Barbara/Varvara, Deborah/Devorah, Abraham/Avram ... interesting to know it happens in India as well.
Thanks so much for all this; must admit, I hoped you'd answer!
All the best
1