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Names starting with N (न): 11 names from the scriptures

4 for boys and 7 for girls. With each name: its meaning, its number in the text, and the nakshatra pada and rashi of its first syllable.

In short

Here are 11 names starting with N (न): 4 for boys and 7 for girls. Each comes from the Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama, Shiva Sahasranama (Mahabharata) and was checked in two separate editions; with each name are its meaning, its number in the text, and the nakshatra pada and rashi of its first syllable by the Avakahada chakra (Scorpio (Vrishchika)).

Edited by the SanatanBodh editorial teamLast updated: 8 sourcesDrafted with AI, checked against sourcesReport a mistake

Boys’ names starting with N (न) (4)

  • नंदन

    नन्दनNandanBoy

    Source of joy

    Source
    Vishnu Sahasranama, name 527
    Deity
    Vishnu
    Meaning based on
    Shankara’s commentary
    First syllable
    ना → Anuradha pada 1 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • नारायण

    NarayanBoy

    Whose abode (ayana) is the naras, the elements born of the Self, and who pervades them

    Source
    Vishnu Sahasranama, name 245
    Deity
    Vishnu
    Meaning based on
    Shankara’s commentary
    First syllable
    ना → Anuradha pada 1 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • निर्वाण

    NirvanBoy

    Supreme bliss, free of all sorrow

    Source
    Vishnu Sahasranama, name 577
    Deity
    Vishnu
    Meaning based on
    Shankara’s commentary
    First syllable
    नी → Anuradha pada 2 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • नीलकंठ

    नीलकण्ठNeelkanthBoy

    Blue-throated: from drinking the halahala poison to save the world (Gita Press gloss)

    Source
    Shiva Sahasranama (Mahabharata), name 93 (Gita Press); Pune edition, Anushasana Parva 17.40
    Deity
    Shiva
    Meaning based on
    Sanskrit dictionary: Monier-Williams p. 566
    First syllable
    नी → Anuradha pada 2 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

Girls’ names starting with N (न) (7)

  • नंदिनी

    नन्दिनीNandiniGirl

    Daughter of Nanda; or Nandini, the cow of Kamadhenu’s line; or the Ganga

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 450
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    ना → Anuradha pada 1 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • नलिनी

    NaliniGirl

    The lotus, her hands, feet and face like lotuses

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 460
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    ना → Anuradha pada 1 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • नारायणी

    NarayaniGirl

    Sister of Narayana; Gauri and Narayana are not two

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 298; also in the Durga Ashtottara Shatanama (name 97)
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    ना → Anuradha pada 1 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • नित्या

    NityaGirl

    Eternal: in past, present and future

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 136; also in the Durga Ashtottara Shatanama (name 64)
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    नी → Anuradha pada 2 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • निरंजना

    निरञ्जनाNiranjanaGirl

    Stainless

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 133
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    नी → Anuradha pada 2 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • निरुपमा

    NirupamaGirl

    Without equal (Shvetashvatara 4.19)

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 389
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    नी → Anuradha pada 2 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

  • निर्मला

    NirmalaGirl

    Free of every impurity, even that of ignorance

    Source
    Lalita Sahasranama, name 135
    Deity
    Lalita (the Devi)
    Meaning based on
    Bhaskararaya’s commentary
    First syllable
    नी → Anuradha pada 2 → Scorpio (Vrishchika)

Names with N (न): questions and answers

What is the rashi of a name starting with N (न)?

In the Avakahada chakra the rashi of the nakshatra pada a name’s first syllable belongs to is the name rashi. The first syllables of the names on this page: ना (Anuradha pada 1, Scorpio (Vrishchika)): नंदन, नंदिनी, नलिनी, नारायण and others. नी (Anuradha pada 2, Scorpio (Vrishchika)): नित्या, निरंजना, निरुपमा, निर्मला and others. This is the name rashi; the birth rashi is the Moon’s rashi at birth, found from the birth panchang.

What does the number next to the source mean?

It is the name’s place in the text: 1 to 1000 in the Vishnu and Lalita Sahasranamas, 1 to 1008 in the Mahabharata’s Shiva Sahasranama as the Gita Press counts it, and 1 to 108 in the Durga Ashtottara Shatanama. Where a name comes more than once, the first number is given.

Must the name begin with the syllable of the birth nakshatra?

Many families keep the custom of giving a name that begins with the syllable of the Moon’s nakshatra pada at birth. That is a matter of family custom. This page gives the pada of each name’s first syllable so the match can be made; the birth pada comes from the birth panchang. Ask your family purohit about the naming rite itself.

Sources

  1. Vishnu Sahasranama: Mahabharata, vol. 6 (Anushasana Parva), Gita Press: numbered, with a Hindi gloss
  2. Vishnu Sahasranama: Vishnu Sahasranamavali, sanskritdocuments.org
  3. Vishnu Sahasranama: The Vishnu Sahasranama with the Bhashya of Sri Sankaracharya, tr. R. Ananthakrishna Sastry (Theosophical Publishing House, 1927)
  4. Lalita Sahasranama: Lalita Sahasranamavali, sanskritdocuments.org
  5. Lalita Sahasranama: Lalita Sahasranama with Bhaskararaya’s Commentary, tr. R. Ananthakrishna Sastry (2nd ed., 1925)
  6. Shiva Sahasranama (Mahabharata): Mahabharata, vol. 6 (Anushasana Parva), Gita Press: numbered, with a Hindi gloss
  7. Shiva Sahasranama (Mahabharata): Mahabharata, Pune critical edition (BORI), Anushasana Parva, sanskritdocuments.org
  8. Name syllables: Brihad Avakahada Chakram, Shatapada Chakra verses 9–15; Pt. Sitarama Sharma, Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram (1932), pp. 22–26

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