Sunama: Beautiful Sanskrit Names

by Nityananda Misra

All parents wish to give a unique and meaningful name to their child. In India, a Sanskrit name is mostly preferred. Often parents turn to the Internet, which is replete with misinformation on Sanskrit names. Popular name websites too mispresent meaning of many Sanskrit words and sometimes even list names from other languages, presenting them as Sanskrit. Some bestselling books on Sanskrit names also carry such mistakes. Parents are misled by such sources and end up giving a kunama ('a bad name') to their child.

Each Sanskrit sunama-or 'a good name'-has a mathematical derivation (vyutpatti) and/or a mystical explanation (nirukti). This work by Sanskrit scholar Nityananda Misra is a wonderful collection of more than 3,000 sunamas, most of which are rare or unused today. He studied more than 70,000 names in seventy-seven authentic Sanskrit texts, including seven Vedic samhitas, ten Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, seven konas, three grammar works and thirty-eight sahasranamas for this compilation. Each name entry includes the Devanagari and IAST spellings, gender, meaning, and the person or deity to whom the name belongs.

A work of immense dedication and accurate research, this is a must-have for parents seeking unique names for their child.

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2020

About the author

Nityananda Misra is an IIM Bangalore graduate who works as a quantitative analyst in the investment banking industry. He is passionate about Indian culture, especially classical and medieval Indian literature, classical and folk Indian music, and traditional fine arts and performing arts of India. He is an amateur researcher, editor, and author in the field of Hinduism and Indology. He has edited, translated, or authored seven books so far in Sanskrit, Hindi, and English on Hindu religion, philosophy, and spirituality. He designs and typesets his books himself.

Reviews

[Nishu Thakur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Misra's efforts to fight this misinformation, many parents have changed their children's names. A large number of them now approach him, both for alternatives and new names. Parents who want to give Sanskrit names to their children turn to the Internet, with some websites misguiding with wrong meanings and others featuring "Sanskrit names' that are not from Sanskrit at all.
Misra advises parents to discard the various naming websites if they really care about their children having meaningful names. This one is brilliant book. Go for it.

[Amit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, considering it "read" after I was able to filter out a short list of wonderful potential names suitable for naming my son. Plus few more names from few of the books used as source by the author. Then I will be picking up final name from the list.

But the BEST & MOST important part here is the underlying concept of sunama to be kept in mind which explains how to name or not to name a child. This can be supplemented by a video named "How not to name a child" by the author on Youtube. That is eye opening. Concept must be clear even if you don't use this book to find names.

Only con I found here is its length. Only if it had been bit more longer...

[Santosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I follow the author on Facebook (FB) and have always been appreciative of his high samskrita knowledge. Before releasing his book 'Sunama', he used to make posts on FB on various names giving excellent details such as what is the root word, what's the meaning of that root, how the actual name is derived from that root applying what Panini rule. That approach was fabulous for learners like me.

I bought this book 'Sunama' which is an excellent compilation, no doubt, and gives the names as well as their right meanings. His hard work is certainly commendable, but my feedback below is on the usability perspective.

This book is a collection of authentic names and meanings with mention of the source scripture of that name. Most of the names are taken from various Sahasranama-s from various Puranas and Mahabharata. It doesn't have the derivation details of each name's meaning from the roots with Paninian grammar the way his FB posts used to explain. That was a let down, because, finally, this book loses its readability as soon as one selects a good name for one's child. If someone else comes to us asking "Hey I heard you have a good book of names, can you suggest one good name starting with letter B for my child?", then again it will be used to suggest names to that person only. Then it will again be in the shelf.

My expectation was to see each name accompanied with the derivation formulae leading to the meaning. That would make this book a adhyayana-grantha for learners like us. And it would have been a go to textbook for daily reading until we master the derivations.

Otherwise, tell me, why can't anyone go to SanskritDocuments.org site which hosts all authentic sahasranamas and pick a name for their child? Whatever name is picked from there, would be an authentic name as compared to picking names form baby name websites which give all wrong names. Here in the below URL all the sahasranama stotras are hosted colelcting from various Purana-s.

URL: https://sanskritdocuments.org/iast/sa...

I sincerely request the author to help us, the learners, with his knowledge, by writing more books which would explain and teach sanskrit in various ways, and elevate us. So, requesting the author to kindly keep this request in mind for all future projects.

Given the usability of this book being one time or may be couple of times, I wanted to rate it 3 stars, but I know how much he is capable, and know how much more he can do to help the mankind learn sanskrit. Hence to encourage his good efforts marking it 4 stars i.e., deducted just 1 star instead of 2.

[Ram Gole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set of very "different" names I must say. Very technical names, not sure if many of them will ever get used.