ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1867 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1867 ************************************ 22 Dec 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a late 16th century Bengali masculine name, and wondered whether is appropriate. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of information about names from period India. We found a little that might help you; but not enough to really establish that your name is or isn't appropriate. We're always interested in expanding our library, so if you find sources that you think may help us learn more about Indian names, please let us know. Both and are modern masculine names of Sanskrit origin; both originated as epithets of Hindu deities. is a Sanskrit epithet of Siva and means "lord of the moon". The symbol represents an 'a' with a bar over it, indicating a long vowel. and are different transliterations of the same Sanskrit letter, which is midway between the English \k\ and \tch\ sounds. means "the friend" but is also the name of one of the twelve A:dityas, or solar deities [1]. Both of and are in common use in modern Hindu [2], as are many other divine epithets. We do not know if such names were used in your period, and in particular, we do not know if these two names were used. We are also unsure whether the modern style of name construction, with a given name and a surname, is appropriate to your culture. A survey of the history of the Mughal Empire might provide answers to these questions, but that research is beyond our scope. The examples we've seen of late 16th century Indian names are formed similar to the one you've chosen, with a given name and surname; but we haven't seen enough examples to draw any strong conclusions. A good history of Bengal might contain examples that will help you confirm that you name is correctly constructed. We're sorry we could not be more helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Tangwystyl ferch Morgant Glasfryn, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Raquel Buenaventura. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 22 Dec 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] _The Dictionary of Sanskrit Names_ compiled by the Integral Yoga Institute, (Yogaville, Virginia: Interal Yoga Publications, 1989). [2] We searched on the Internet and found lots of examples of people with these names. In particular, we found "The Guide to Bengali Names" (Accessed 15 Dec 1999). http://www.tidalwave.net/~mazumdar/bengname-home.html