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ArchivesRe: Navanna?
in reply to a message by .blonde.
This is the name of a harvest festival in Bangladesh, but one would have to know more information before being sure that this was its origin as a personal name. It is, however, listed as a male name meaning "new fruits" in Maneka Gahndhi's The Penguin Book of Hindu Names, which would fit with its use for the harvest festival.
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navAnna is indeed a festival in Bengal (culturally and linguistically, Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal are virtually identical, so I use the name Bengal which historically referred to this entity). But, `new fruits' is an easily misunderstood translation. In Sanskrit and Bengali, nava means, and is cognate with, new and anna from ad, to eat, means food. navAnna is the harvest festival when the main rice crop is ready; indeed there are similar festivals all over India (and also elsewhere) with varied names.
I have never heard it as a personal name.
I have never heard it as a personal name.
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