History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.273

v2.c23.273

As to the names of girls, some special rules were laid down. Many gṛhyasūtras say that the names of girls should contain an uneven number of syllables and the Mānava gṛ. (I. 18) expressly says that the names of girls should be of three syllables. Pār. and Vārāhagṛhya further say that the names of girls should end in ‘ā’, Gobhila and Mānava say they should end in ‘dā’ (as in Satyadā, Vasudā, Yaśodā, Narmadā), Śaṅkha-likhita dharmasūtra and Baijavāpa require that it should end in ‘ī’, while the Baud.⁵⁶⁸ gṛ. śeṣa-sūtra says that it should end in a long vowel. The Vārāhagṛhya adds an intricate rule that the name of a girl should have an ‘ā’ vowel in it and should not be after a river, a nakṣatra or should not be the name of the sun or moon or Pūṣan and should not be one having the idea of ‘given by god’ as in Devadattā or having the word ‘rakṣitā (as in Buddharakṣitā ).⁵⁶⁹ Manu II. 33 prescribes that the names of women should end in a long vowel, should be easy to pronounce, should not suggest any harsh acts, should be perspicuous, should be pleasing to the ear, auspicious and should convey some blessing and in III. 9 Manu and Āp. gṛ. III. 13 say that one should not marry a girl named after nakṣatras, trees, rivers. In modern times girls frequently bear the names of the great rivers of India (Sindhu, Jāhnavī, Yamunā, Tāpī, Narmadā, Godā, Kṛṣṇā, Kāverī &c.).