# Any Indian (Hindi, etc.) or Farsi names cognates of common European names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423 "2005-02-16T21:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/1 "2005-02-16T21:22:31Z")
The languages of Iran (Farsi), and Northern India (Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, etc.) are philologically related to the languages of Europes in the Indo-European linguistic family. Though the Asian Indo-European languages are culturally seperated from the languages of Europe, there are a significant number of words that are [cognates](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cognate) between the languages of both regions ([further reading](http://www.friesian.com/cognates.htm)). Whether two words are cognate or not depends upon both phonological form (with sound shifts considered acceptable) and meaning. The links given explain this in better detail. I am trying to come up with some number of examples of personal names that are cognates between Asian IE languages and European IE languages, in the same way that _Peter_ is cognate to \*Pierre \* and _Pedro_. The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is the Latin-derived name _Rex_ and the Hindi (?) _Raj_, which both mean “king”. Can anyone else come up with some more? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/2 "2005-02-16T21:43:42Z")
I only know the Iranian ones. I’m making up my own spelling for these as there is no standardized way of doing this. There is Cyrus (pronounced like SEE-roos), Eskandar (Alexander), Davoud (David), Yusef (Joseph), Maryam (Mariam) and Leila. There are others to be sure. Many of these are religious in nature and were passed around because of this I’m sure. Alexander may have also had an impact on Iran when conquered it. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/3 "2005-02-16T21:52:15Z")
**Captain** , do you know if _Shah_ (“king”) is ever used as a first name in Farsi? I know it’s used as a surmname. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/4 "2005-02-16T21:53:38Z")
“Sikander” is Hindi-Urdu, but I belive that’s a direct borrowing from Greek “Alexander,” not a “natural” cognate descending from Proto-Indo-European. There are several “false friends” in Hindi and other Indo-Aryan languages – most commonly encountered are “Jay” (“victory”) and “Neel” (“blue”). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/5 "2005-02-16T21:57:40Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > There is Cyrus (pronounced like SEE-roos), Eskandar (Alexander), Davoud (David), Yusef (Joseph), Maryam (Mariam). **Ascenray** makes a good point – these names (except Cyrus) are borrowings from Greek and from Semitic languages. I wonder is _Cyrus_ and Latin _Caesar_ are cognates? I understand that the story about _Caesar_ coming from the Latin word meaning “to cut” is untrue. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/6 "2005-02-16T22:08:03Z")
The Hindi name Vijay (from Sanskrit _vijaya_) means “victory”, but I don’t know if it’s actually cognate with the Latin-derived name Victor. (The Sanskrit word comes from the prefix _vi-_ and the root _ji_.) There’s a perfectly good Sanskrit epithet _sujana_ which is cognate with the Greek-derived name Eugene, “well-born”, but I don’t know if there’s an Indian name derived from the Sanskrit word. And I suppose you wouldn’t count modern Western names that are simply borrowed from Indian ones, like Chandra or Uma or Devi. Old names of Indo-European deities (more common in Indian than European nomenclature, though) might be your best bet. For example, the Proto-Indo-European goddess of dawn whose name is reconstructed as \*_aus-os_ was known in Sanskrit as “Ushas” and in Latin as “Aurora”. “Usha” is still a popular Hindi name, but you might not find too many “Auroras” around these days. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/7 "2005-02-16T22:24:07Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > There’s a perfectly good Sanskrit epithet _sujana_ which is cognate with the Greek-derived name Eugene, “well-born”, but I don’t know if there’s an Indian name derived from the Sanskrit word. Maybe, just maybe. I know an Indian woman with the first name of _Soujanya_. She is a Telugu speaker, but perhaps the name derives from Sanskrit? > [@Kimstu](#): > > And I suppose you wouldn’t count modern Western names that are simply borrowed from Indian ones, like Chandra or Uma or Devi. _Devi_ might be a lead if it means “god”. Perhaps it can be linked to names like the Greek-derived _Theodore_ (“God-given”). > [@Kimstu](#): > > Old names of Indo-European deities (more common in Indian than European nomenclature, though) might be your best bet. For example, the Proto-Indo-European goddess of dawn whose name is reconstructed as \*_aus-os_ was known in Sanskrit as “Ushas” and in Latin as “Aurora”. “Usha” is still a popular Hindi name, but you might not find too many “Auroras” around these days. That’s OK – _Aurora_ and _Usha_ works. By chance, do you know if there’s a feminine form of Hindi _Raj_ that would match up with Latin _Regina_? ---
**Author:** ![dasgupta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@dasgupta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasgupta)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/8 "2005-02-16T22:30:56Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > By chance, do you know if there’s a feminine form of Hindi _Raj_ that would match up with Latin _Regina_? If my SO is to be believed, it’s _Rani_. At least, when I asked her to translate by pet name for her, that’s what I got. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/9 "2005-02-16T22:40:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > … like Chandra _Chandra_ is equivalent to Greek-derived _Selene, Selena_ (all meaning “moon”). Tentatively, they appear to be cognates. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/10 "2005-02-16T22:45:53Z")
OK, found [a nice site](http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/ind.html). It’s not comprehensive, but it can help. Hindi \*Devdan \* is the cognate to _Theodore_. If the meaning of Serbo-Croatian \*Goran \* has anything to do with mountains, then it is a cognate to Hindi _Girish_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/11 "2005-02-16T23:12:20Z")
Yes, I think the feminine name Sujanya (or Soujanya) is derived from Sanskrit _su-_ and _jan_, which would make it cognate with Eugene and Eugenia. And yes, Hindi “Rani” is from Sanskrit _rajni_ which is the feminine form of _raja_ which is cognate with Rex. And yes, if you’ll accept Deva/Theo cognates, as **bordelond** says, Devdan is the equivalent of Theodore (“gift of God”). As for Chandra, it’s from Sanskrit _cand_, “to shine brightly”, which is cognate with Latin “candeo”, “candela”, but I’m not sure about the “Selene” connection: does that fit? There’s also the Hindi name Manu, from Sanskrit _manu_, which is cognate with Germanic/English “man”, which should get you a whole slew of archaic names like Manfred and so on. Hmmm. There seem to be more of these than I originally thought. I’m really curious, though: why are you looking for cognate proper names in Indo-Iranian and Western Indo-European languages? ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/12 "2005-02-16T23:17:50Z")
I learned that “thugee” was a sect of bandits in India in the 1800’s who worshipped Kai and the word “thug” came from that word. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/13 "2005-02-17T11:35:27Z")
Knez “prince” in Russian - Knez as a surname in Iranian (also in the US). But perhaps the family was an former immigrant to Iran ? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/14 "2005-02-17T12:54:42Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > If the meaning of Serbo-Croatian \*Goran \* has anything to do with mountains, then it is a cognate to Hindi _Girish_. Yep. [Confirmed](http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/ser.html). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/15 "2005-02-17T13:36:15Z")
I don’t think the following are cognates – they got into the language, I suspect, through the Greek historians, from which later generations grabbed them and used them as monickers for their kids. If not for the Greeks, I suspect these names wouldn’t have made it as Western names. I was fascinated to read in the appendix to L. Sprague de Camp’s historical novel **The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate** that the names of the Persian kings are significantly changed versions of the originals. de Camp gives the original forms (although where he got these from, I don’t know) with the Persian original. There’s a lot of changing to shoehorn the names into the Greek style. I shouldn’t be surprised – foreign names have been “adapted” to Greek for years. Egyptian names like “User- Man-Re” becomes “Ozymandias”, “Ra-Mose” becomes “Ramses”, etc. Hebrew names got “Hellenized” via the Septuagint, like “Moishe” becoming “Moses”. But the names I reffered to at the start are these: \*\*Darius == Daryavahush Cyrus == Kurush == Koresh Xerxes == Kshayarsha Artaxerxes == Artakshathra\*\* I love the way the original forms are so different and sound more appropriate to the region. I never woulda guessed at the original forms. And I’ve always wondered about Xerxes and Artaxerxes. We see that the original forms aren’t so similar at all. Nevertheless, Darius, Cyrus, and Xerxes, at least, have become popular Western names. I’ve never heard of an “Artaxerxes”, but I’ll bet it’s been used. But, as I say, I suspect the names came into Western culture through literary influences, through the Greek historians, rather than being part of some common cultural set of names that has been passed down as a shared memory, so I don’t think these are truly “cognate” forms. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/16 "2005-02-17T13:42:45Z")
By the way, regarding some of the others above – Elias Auerbach, in his book **Moses** , claims that “Miriam” is from Egyptian “Mrij” = “beloved”. If true, the name may be cognate, but it’s of Egyptian origin. I understand that some of the Latin names of the Gods are cognate with Sanskrit forms. Thus \*\*Varuna == Uranus Dyaus Piter (Sky Father) = = Jupiter Dyaus == Zeus\*\* Jupiter and Zeus have been used as personal names, but I don’t know if any of the others have been, particularly the Sanskrit ones. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/17 "2005-02-17T14:53:35Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I’m really curious, though: why are you looking for cognate proper names in Indo-Iranian and Western Indo-European languages? No special reason at all, other than I find this topic interesting. Thanks to everyone for the responses so far. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/18 "2005-02-17T14:55:24Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > _Devi_ might be a lead if it means “god”. Perhaps it can be linked to names like the Greek-derived _Theodore_ (“God-given”). Devi is a feminine word meaning goddess/divine. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/19 "2005-02-17T15:10:27Z")
The definitions on the Indian name site above suggest that the masculine Hindi masculine name _Madhukar_ is a cognate of the Greek feminine name _Melissa_ (both meaning “bee”). Sanskrit-derived _Jagganath_ (cf “juggernaut”) is a semantic cognate of Slavic _Vladimir_ (“lord of the world”). ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/20 "2005-02-17T16:30:49Z")
Apparently my last name is the same or similar to the word for warrior in Farsi. I was in a shop run by an Iranian family and wrote my name on a special order form. The lady behind the counter looked at me in surprise and asked me if I was of Middle Eastern decent, then informed me that the word meant warrior in her language. It was very strange. She honestly looked shocked. BTW, I’m not of Middle Eastern decent, I’m an American Mutt and my grandfather’s family came from Scotland waaaaaaaaay back. Can someone please tell me what the word for warrior is in Farsi? I’m curious to how similar it is to my real last name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423.md?page=2)