Sikh names are the names used by Sikhs. The basis of Sikh personal-names are selected through the naam karan ceremony. Nearly all Sikh personal-names carry religious meanings. The usage of Singh or Kaur in a Sikh name is mandated after baptism into the Khalsa and based upon gender. Since the colonial-period, many Sikhs have adopted using their caste or clan as a surname and instead use Singh or Kaur as a middle-name rather than a surname. Some Sikhs adopt Khalsa as their surname to mark a departure from any caste identifications based upon names. Trends and systems of Sikh names have changed over time, with a notable shift has been the ending of using gendered name endings toward names being unisex and the popularization of including certain prefixes and suffixes to create dithematic names.
Overview Sikh names often have the following format: First name – Religious name – Family name. Sikh first names serve as personal names and are selected through the Naam Karan ceremony, where a random page of the Guru Granth Sahib is opened by a granthi (Sikh priest) and the first letter of the first prayer on the opened page is used as the basis for the first name as an initial. Most Sikh first names are unisex and often are appended with prefixes and suffixes, such as -jit, -winder, or -want. The religious name is Singh ("lion") for males and Kaur ("princess") for females. First and religious names are usually used together by Sikhs. Some Sikhs have a family name whilst others only have a personal name and religious name. For the Sikhs that have a family name, it usually consists of a caste-based or sub-caste-based name which marks the individual's caste identity. Sikhism opposes the caste system, thus traditionally Sikhs did not have caste-based surnames, however they have been adopted by some Sikhs to match with naming conventions outside of India. For the Sikhs who do not have a caste-based surname, some use Singh or Kaur as their surname instead. Other Sikhs have a placename (toponym) as their surname rather than a caste-based surname.
According to Kate Monk's Onomastikon ("Dictionary of Names"), most Sikhs have three names which consists of a personal-name, a middle-name to show Sikh identity (example: Singh, 'lion' for a male), and a clan or subsect name as a surname. Many Sikh women use Kaur as their third name but some have Singh instead if their family had adopted it as a surname. The name Kaur can translated as meaning "princess" but also "lioness", analogous to the translation of Singh being "lion". Many Sikh names are not unique to the religious community but are shared across religious lines, especially with the Hindu community, as certain names are used by both Sikhs and Hindus. There exists a practice of a married Sikh woman adopting the personal-name of their husband as their own middle-name or surname, which may be characteristically masculine, with meanings such as "warrior", "brother", or "strength". Spellings of Sikh names may vary when transliterated into the Latin script as there is no uniform transliteration scheme in-use.
History Guru Nanak is believed to have renamed Bhai Mardana from his original name Marjana to Mardana. The lore states that Mardana was named Marjana (meaning "to die") by his parents as all of their previous children had died in childhood and it was believed that a name like this would prevent evil-eye and keep away the god of death and prolong their son's life. When Mardana became a companion of Guru Nanak, the guru renamed him Mardana, which means "brave" or "manly".
Sikh names were often chosen in-relation to particular Indic deities or gurus that find reference within the Sikh scriptures, such as Rama, Indra, and Shiva. Derivations based upon Indra's name using the Punjabi form Inder were especially common as both a prefix and suffix, adopted for martial symbolism.
The names of the Sikh gurus carried special religious or martial meanings, often tied to Indic mythology or deities:
Nanak: meaning "happy" or "griefless" Angad: meaning "bestower of limbs" - reference to the character Angada Amar Das: devotee of the divine Ram Das: devotee of Rama Arjan: related to the character Arjuna Hargobind: combination of epithets related to Shiva and Krishna Har Rai: one term relates to Shiva whilst the other means "king" or "prince" Har Krishan: two terms jointly representing Shiva and Krishna Tegh Bahadur: a martial name meaning "sword" and "brave", together meaning “brave [user] of sword” Gobind Rai: one term relates to Krishna and the other means "king" or "prince"
Sikh lore claims that prior to the adoption of Singh and Kaur, Sikhs generally had short and simple names. Thus, the adoption of "heavy" (bhari) personal names were for martial reasons and replaced "little" personal names, as the heavy names were "weightier" and "grander" sounding to symbolize martiality and courage.
Sikhs believe that Guru Gobind Singh mandated in 1699 that they adopt Singh and Kaur as part of their names to manifest gender equality and to shed influences of casteism and classism. All five members of the inaugural Panj Piare quintet are held to have replaced their previous surnames for Singh during this event. Singh carries the literal meaning of "lion" but metaphorically means "warrior" or "champion". In India, a person's hereditary or familial occupation or background can often be determined by their family name and often signifies the caste-background of the person. The name Singh long pre-dates Sikhism's adoption of it and was used by warrior-groups in India in the form of a Kshatriya title, such as by Rajputs. Thus, Jacob Copeman argues that the adoption of Singh as a title by the Sikhs does not mark a move solely toward castelessness but rather it was more aptly an action toward Rajputization. Thus, to be initiated into the Khalsa, a requirement is that one must adopt Singh or Kaur in their name. For example, historically a person with the original name of Ram Chand would have become Ram Singh after being baptized. Prevailing attachments to names like Ram, Lal, Chand, Das, Dev, Kumar, Anand, or Parkash were thus all replaced by Singh alone.
Common convention claims the tenth Sikh guru was born with the name Gobind Rai but became Gobind Singh after undergoing the Pahul baptismal ceremony in 1699. The female name Kaur (meaning "princess") also pre-dates Sikhism's adoption of it and was in-use by Rajput groups prior, with Kaur being the Punjabi form of the Rajput term Kanwar (meaning "prince"). Thus, Kaur is properly literally translated as "prince" and not "princess" but also carries the metaphorical meaning of "lioness". Some Sikh women refer to themselves as Singhnis or Singhnee, literally meaning "lioness". Both Singh and Kaur are interpreted by Sikhs as symbols to mark Sikhs' separateness from Hinduism but also symbolize martiality and self-dignity. The adoption of Singh and Kaur also imbued "name spirit" into Dalit Sikhs, an uplifting effect as it opened up a formerly Rajput title to be adopted by lower-castes. All Sikhs sharing the same name also symbolizes them belonging to the same family.
Historically, Sikh personal-names were not unisex and different forms of the same name varied based on gender in-order to mark one's gender. For example, names using the element gian as a basis would be given as a name in the form of Gian to males and Giano (with an -o added to the end) to females. Historical Punjabi names followed different naming customs depending on if the name was masculine or feminine.
Old Punjabi masculine names: usually ended with a consonant-sound or with -a, -u, or -er sound Examples for -a: Karta, Boota, Gyana, Kapura, Dhanna, Buddha, Nikka, Dharma, Karma, Atma, Kishna, Bishna, Brahma, Jugga Examples for -u: Persu, Mittu, Chittu, Nandu, Beeru, Telu, Bansu, Nathu Examples for -er: Gujjer, Inder, Ishwer, Joginder, Gheecher, Bikker, Sunder, Pakher Examples for consonant-ending: Sirdool, Mullen, Bukken, Chunnen, Thummen, Nanak, Manak, Jodh, Arjun, Gobind, Chand Old Punjabi feminine names: often ended with an -an (nasalized n), -ee/i, or -o sound Examples for -an: Jindan, Indran, Kaulan, Acchran, Meeran, Taran, Jeetan, Ranjitan, Roopan, Sodhan Examples for -ee/i: Rami, Nikki, Nandi, Santi, Bunti, Rakhi, Rajji, Bibi, Indie, Kaati, Rupi, Nihali, Dhanni, Nanki, Janki Examples for -o: Gulabo, Punjabo, Tejo, Rajo, Bunto, Chinto, Maro, Nando, Billo, Indo, Dilipo, Rupo, Dhanno, Kishno, Kahno
Sometimes a Punjabi person's name would change based on their success, power, finances, and social-standing, especially prior to when Punjabis began recording their names through writing. Male names ending with -u were seen as more informal, those ending with -a had higher status, whilst those lacking a vowel ending and with attachments appended to the name like Raj or Das earned the greatest clout at the time. Thus, a Punjabi born originally with the name Desu may have been known as Desa as they grew richer and more important, perhaps being called Des Raj if they became very powerful and respected. This led to the coining of a saying: Persu, Persa, Pers Ram, es maya ke tin nam. Ordinary people and servants were addressed by a single name whilst those with higher-status were addressed by two names with the -ji honorific. Richard Carnac Temple writing in 1883 noted that the descendants of the Sikh gurus had the titles/names Bedi, Bawa, or Sodhi prefixed to their names as a marker of their lineage.
However, in the latter half of the 20th century the practice of categorizing names as masculine or feminine based on their ending and resultantly choosing them respectively for a son or daughter ceased to be followed and now Sikh personal names are unisex. Thus, using the earlier example, today both males and females would be given Gian as their name, without any distinction based on their gender. Therefore, the part of the name that marked someone's gender could no longer be determined by their personal name and relied upon if they had Singh or Kaur in their name.