Indian names are unique in its meaning and pronunciation. Most surnames qualify the profession of the ancestors or follow certain rules conventionally. The earlier trend was often to name the child by the names of Gods and Goddesses.

The sixties was when cinema was a huge form of entertainment. There emerged an inclination to name the child as Shashi, Rajesh, Shammi and also as Meena Kumari or Madhubala as baby girl names.

The latest trend is more towards using names that bear a distinct Indianness. Parents want a unique name for their child with a sensitive meaning. Also numerology is becoming popular as many believe that numbers make the destiny of the person. People also prefer an addition or deletion in their present names and many are going towards a name change.

The birth of a baby is exciting and naming the baby is quite an occasion marked with celebration. Jayani means the conqueror, Saanika is a flute and Nishika means honest. Parents also prefer to name a girl child after the Goddess Laxmi and there are variants in Amrita, Kantha, Pushti and Vachi. Many people are followers of Lord Ganesh and there are more than 108 names in this category. Gunina, Dharmik, Manomay and Yashvasin are some options.

Baby boy names that are meaningful, come as Sabir meaning patient, Ekak for dance, Ekansh for whole, Baasim means smiling, Kaamil means perfect, Kadhir is brilliant, Ayush means life, Agastya is a saint, Kahil is a friend, Raahat is relief and Raakin is respectful.

Baby girl names are beautiful as Adarshini means realistic, Aahna means to exist, Aaditri means Laxmi, Laasya is Parvathi, Prishti means ray of light and Palakshi is white.

A is believed to bring luck to the new born. A names include Aadesh, Anya, Arya, Aman, Ashutosh, Abhishek, Aarti, Anishka, Anusha, Anuraaj, Anukaran, Aamaal, Afreen, Arth, Ansh, Aakruti, Alpesh, Ashita, Amarkant, Aabha, Ashima, Abhilasha, Akanksha, Amartya and Aamir.

Sikh names are very evident with Prableen, Sukhbir, Gurpreet, Gursharan, Rajveer, Tejinder, Mandeep, Manmeet, Agamjit, Premjit, Kultaran, Kulvinder, Livleen, Livroop, Amanbir and Amarleen.

With metro culture and cross cultural marriages it is common to have a Ruhaan or a Rubeena in a Hindu family.

Names like Sean, Lauren, Derek and Sam also seem to feature in non-Christian homes.