#WhatsInAName

Posted on by Parul Thakur

Wonder if Einstein was named Newton and Newton was named Einstein, today we would have known of the Einstein’s laws of motion and Newton’s Theory of Relativity. Sounds odd! Isn’t it? 😀

Name is our identity and not just that, it is who we are – in some way or the other. Not all Amit, Abhishek, Shalini, Shweta, Gurpreet are alike. But somewhere there is an effect of our name on us. My brother Siddhartha, doesn’t want any material pleasures in life – clothes, shoes, vacation nothing excites him! Narmada – a friend,is like the river, flows in the opposite direction and does things differently. Another friend, Shalini, is so modest that even modesty would feel shy. Not just that, her husband Dheeraj is super patient and calm. My husband Vikas talks of nothing but growth – be it career or stocks 😀

Not just that, names can be confusing too – By just these names it’s always hard for me to address unless I talk – Manju, Kiran, Suman, Bobby, Shashi, Jyoti, Ashwini and the list can go on. I know of two Sumans – a guy and a girl and they both are so different! Yet, their name makes them who they are – Suman, the girl is vivacious and the guy Suman, is very understanding and a pleasing personality. Both living up to the meaning of their names – a flower!

My name is Parul – and as a kid I always wanted to know why Parul? It is a Bengali name and I am not. My parent told me two tales

  • Parul was the daughter of a King and going by Bengali folk tales, she was the only sister to seven brothers. She was the strongest of the family and led her family through all sorts of struggles. My parents wanted me to be a strong girl. May be they meant – somebody who could speak her mind, be courageous and take challenges head on.
  • Parul is also the name of a rare white flower that grows somewhere up on the hills. It blooms once in several years and its fragrance surrounds the hill. May be they wanted me to do my best in what all I take up.

I don’t know if I am living up to my name but I still love my name. My name is my identity and I am proud of it! 🙂 Funny as it may sound – couple of folks call me Payroll at work!

We all have folks around who have names like James Bond Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan. Super difficult to shout out – Hey! Salman Khan, are we meeting today? How strange that every Thomas is Tom and every Robert is Bob!

What’s in a name after all??

P.S : This post was written as a part of Edition 6 IndiSpire #WhatsInAName.

49 thoughts on “#WhatsInAName”

  4. I was always indifferent to my name, neither hated it nor loved it. I mean ‘Priya’? Can you think of another name more common!? Until someone not from around here told me they’d always loved the name Priya. It was sweet. Plus, I wouldn’t want to be called anything else! Einstein’s laws of motion – Hehe, that does sound awfully odd. Parul’s a nice name, even the meanings aside, it has a nice ring to it. 🙂

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    1. Thank you Priya! One of my American colleague’s daughter’s name is Priya and they totally love this Indian name because of its meaning. A daughter is always dear to parent’s heart! 🙂

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  5. Haha lovely post & it is really fascinating that you are named after a flower. 🙂 Specialy when it is rare, white & blooms once in several years.:)

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  7. Yea can’t really disagree… One of my friends had pointed out that I tend to get things work by requesting the person in charge…. Anunoy=Request…. Don’t know how much I’ve retained that pleasant thing if at all I ever had that 😀

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  9. Loved the post dear … you have such an easy manner of writing , just like your name – rare to find, and when found so pleasant 🙂
    Thanks for the raja-rajkumari story behind the origin of Parul.. I was not aware of this one 🙂

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  11. Parul is such a cute name.. I love it.. short, sweet, cute 🙂 And my son’s name is Siddharth, we used to call him Siddhu. But as he grew, he is now Sid to all.

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  12. First of all, I love your name, Parul. And I do believe that there is a lot in the name. For eg. I am quite happy with the name that my parents chose for me. I somehow feel that it encapsulates me so well. And yes, names become people.

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  13. Parul is indeed a beautiful name 🙂 Names are of course important.
    Personally speaking, though I can’t really pinpoint as to the exact meaning of my name but whatever meanings it alludes to (Bela, Bel, Bello in Italian, etc) – I like them all!

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  14. I had a roommate named Parul once and I always used to tell her how much I like her name 😀
    It took me a long time to accept my name and grow to love it. Now I do (though I did relapse at this one point when too many people asked if I was related Sreesanth :S)! I’d written about my name for the same edition of Indispire too 😀

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  15. Great to know the meanings of your name Parul and I think you’ve done your name proud! 😉 I was named Elisabeth after a relative though changed it in grade 9 to my Dutch name equivalent (as I understand it) to Elly. The first means “oath to God” and the latter means “truth and light.” I prefer the latter as I consider myself spiritual, not religious. 🙂 ❤

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  16. Hahaha! Good one!

    Coincidentally, ‘Parul’ was one of the names shortlisted by my parents for me (along with ‘Shilpa’ and a few others). I found out about this in my baby diary that was maintained by my mom for a couple of years after my birth. I’ve posted a slideshow of some of the pages from that diary here: http://www.mysteriouskaddu.com/2011/09/30-days-of-me-prized-possession.html.

    Eventually though, I came to be named as ‘Kadambari’ (final reason here: http://www.mysteriouskaddu.com/2015/02/foto-friday-kadambari.html).

    But, you’re right. A rose might not have smelt as sweet if it hadn’t been names ‘rose’. Name matters. It’s all about the name.

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  17. Thanks for sharing this lovely post, Parul.

    Yes, each name has a personality and identity to go with it. While some start with a “responsibility” bestowed by the name-giver, some take a personality all their own – which leads us to identify a name with a particular person – on that basis, we also develop a sort of trust, don’t we? Sweet. I love your name, too!

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  18. Hahaha.. That was fun to read Parul.. Payroll!!!.. I’m still laughing at this.. 😀
    But I guess, you have lived up to your name so well and your parents must be so proud of you..
    I loved your take on this 🙂

    Cheers

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  19. It was interesting to read this one. I had read it earlier too but how did I miss commenting? It is amazing that your parents would have researched and thought so much before keeping your name. Parul and Payroll does sound similar so I can see from where your colleagues are coming from 😀

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  25. Wow what an interesting name – thanks for sharing the meaning of Parul, sounds so easy and pleasant for the ears. I was named by the nuns as my parents were very simple people and devoted to the church. So I was named as Genevive Angela – Genevive is a french saint and there is a story about her.. Angela was added to that, but my mother called me Janet as she loved that name… so people who know me well call me Janet.. and then there are so many others who call me genny, janoo. I always had a problem as a child as people couldn’t pronounce my name properly and i used to get angry:) Now after reading the book Genevive I am happy to be called both Genevive and Angela too…

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    1. Thank you for sharing the story behind your name. I never asked and ended up calling you Angela. I felt that the many things you do make you special and like that an angel. So my name Angela fitted well 🙂 I love Janet too 🙂 Genevive is slightly hard but a beautiful name.

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