- Sikh names
A Sikh man almost always bears the
surname ofSingh , which means 'lion', in Punjabi and a Sikh woman can be identified with a second name ofKaur , which means 'crown prince'. Additionally, except in only a very few cases, the same first names used for men are used for women. In other words, though one may not be able to tell the gender of a Sikh person from his/her first name, the second name of Singh or Kaur makes the distinction completely clear.Unisex first names are a salient example of the recognition of equality between men and women. Moreover, the said first names usually end with common suffixes such as: inder, jeet, jot, preet, pal, meet, deep, mail, bir, vant etc. Even the prefixes of the first names aren't too varied. The most common prefixes are: Gur, Har, Man, Bal, Dal, Kul, Jas etc. The various combinations of these prefixes and suffixes make up Sikh first names. Also of note, Sikh names always represent some exalted ideal state or perfect concept. For example, Harjot means "divine spirit of the lord." (Har - God, Jot - spirit). Savraj means "Independence" (sav - self, raj - rule).
Despite the above unwritten conventions that are usually followed while naming Sikh children, till a generation earlier, shorter, one syllable names such as Bhag Singh, Jant Singh, etc. could be easily encountered especially in rural areas of Punjab. Other than that, modern Sikh families living in bigger, cosmopolitan cities, have adopted names from other communities as well. For instance, in
New Delhi you might find a Sikh girl named simply Amita. In this case, the second name Kaur has been done away with and more significantly, the name Amita is unlike any conventional Sikh first name and is, in fact, a name more commonly associated with aHindu girl. Some Sikh girls simply take on last name of "Singh", a practice more common in larger cities. Some believers maintain that this practice of naming without using the word "Singh" or "Kaur" is "manmat" (Against the will of the Guru) and is prohibited in theRehat Maryada (The way of living of Sikhs).References and Links
[http://www.SikhNames.com] www.SikhNames.com: Comprehensive list of Sikh names, their meanings and pronunciation.
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