# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**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 17, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/21 "2005-02-17T16:56:10Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > 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”). “Madhukar” literally means maker (kar) of honey (madhu). How does that compare to the etymology of “Melissa”? “Madhu” is a cognate of English “mead” (honey wine). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/22 "2005-02-17T17:02:57Z")
**bordelond:** _Sanskrit-derived Jagganath (cf “juggernaut”) [from Skt. jagan-natha] is a semantic cognate of Slavic Vladimir (“lord of the world”)._ Whoa there. How’d that happen? I know that words that are etymologically cognate can be superficially different, but those names look **really** different. And yeah, I’m also wondering about the relation of “Melissa” to _madhu_/mead/Germ. _meth_/ Slav. _medu_. ---
**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, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/23 "2005-02-17T17:16:32Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > “Madhukar” literally means maker (kar) of honey (madhu). How does that compare to the etymology of “Melissa”? > > “Madhu” is a cognate of English “mead” (honey wine). “Madhu” is also a cognate of the Greek root _meli-_, meaning “honey”. It’s not uncommon for alveolar stop consonants ( **t** , **d** , **dh** ) to be **s** , **l** , or **r** in other languages. ---
**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, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/24 "2005-02-17T17:18:33Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > **bordelond:** _Sanskrit-derived Jagganath (cf “juggernaut”) [from Skt. jagan-natha] is a semantic cognate of Slavic Vladimir (“lord of the world”)._ > > Whoa there. How’d that happen? I know that words that are etymologically cognate can be superficially different, but those names look **really** different. I was careful to include the qualifier “semantic”, because I know that the phonetics don’t hold up. That means I was incorrect in saying the two were “cognates”. It’s better to say that the two names are version of one another with the same meaning. ---
**Author:** ![cerniagigante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8797f3/32.png) [@cerniagigante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerniagigante)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/25 "2010-05-27T00:07:17Z")
veda = wit, niz = night, vrka = wolf, atti (ad) = eat, sthiti = stay, sthaana = stand, maamsa = meat, kartati (krt) = [to] cut, uurna = wool, divasa = day, udaka = water, uudha = guide, raaj = reign, laghu = light, daaru (= wood) ~ tree, odana = food, gurvii = great, aahata = hit, hrdaya = heart, smita = smile, sarpa = serpent, go = cow, pacati = [to] bake, urvii = earth, maanava = man,… not 100% sure but they do sound very close, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/26 "2010-05-27T07:16:08Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > “Usha” is still a popular Hindi name, but you might not find too many “Auroras” around these days. Look for them in Hispanic countries, I know a few. It seems to be coming up in Spain right now, you meet both old ladies and little babies with the name. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/27 "2010-05-27T08:00:43Z")
Interesting! But beware the zombie thread. ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/28 "2010-05-27T11:26:16Z")
The Farsi girls name Sohi is surely a cognate of Sophie. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/29 "2010-05-27T16:31:09Z")
> [@Drew\_Kit](#): > > The Farsi girls name Sohi is surely a cognate of Sophie. Both mean “wisdom” or something similar? ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/30 "2010-05-27T16:37:58Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Both mean “wisdom” or something similar? Maybe I’m wrong then, I believe Sohi means ‘Fresh’. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/31 "2010-05-27T17:19:58Z")
Possibly Anil and Neil; the former means ‘air, wind’ and the latter’s etymology is either champion or cloud. Two ‘false friends’ that I come across often are the Irish Sheila (mostly in older women) and Indian Sheela (women of any age). Then there’s Kieran, an Irish boys’ name, and Kiran, a Sikh name for either boys or girls - it caused some confusion when my straight male friend Simon was dating a Kiran. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/32 "2010-05-28T02:31:05Z")
Jackpot!!! [List of Proto-Indo-European roots](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:List_of_Proto-Indo-European_roots) with meanings and cognates in various languages. Lots of good name fodder in there. My favorite so far is the root \*_h₂stḗr_, “star”, from which Latin “Stella”, Sanskrit “Tara”, and Persian “Setareh” are all derived. I’m also liking \*\*bʰel-\*, “light, bright, radiance”, source of Sanskrit “Bharga”, “Bhargavan”, etc., and Latin “Flavus”, “Flavius”. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/33 "2011-05-27T20:56:24Z")
Very cool thread. According to Wiktionary, Rex (and its female form, Regina) is indeed a cognate to Rajah (and its female form, Rani). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/34 "2011-05-27T21:25:39Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > **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. Cyrus is a Hellenization of Old Persian Kurush, with the meaning “Sun” so is probably not in any way a cognate of Caesar. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423/35 "2011-05-27T21:29:47Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Interesting! But beware the zombie thread. This might explain the shambling Hindi-speakers calling out\*\* दिमाग\*\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-indian-hindi-etc-or-farsi-names-cognates-of-common-european-names/290423.md?page=1)