What’s in a name?

In many societies, a child’s name commonly represents their parents’ wishes and pray. A name also could lead us to a thoughtful meaning or could indicate an event or location when the child was born. This post will try to answer what’s in the name of my first son. His name is “I Dewa Gede Arvind Adiyatama.” My wife and I call him: Arvind. Let’s go through into each name and meaning.

The first three names is a typical Balinese name. In Bali, “I” is a commoner title for male while “Dewa” is a title for Ksatriya, second wangsa or caste title among four wangsa which is common in Balinese society. Finally, “Gede” (means Big or the Eldest in Indonesian) is simply mean first-born. So, I believe the overall meaning of the first three names is quite obvious. These name are simply the recognition of Arvind’s association with and position in Balinese culture.

The next two names is a representation of wishes and pray upon him given any conditions when he was born.

Arvind means lotus in Sanskrit. Some believe that ‘Arvind’ means red lotus in particular, on which the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity – Lakshmi sits. According to myth, only the cleverest and most bright child gets the name 'Arvind'. Arvind is also believed to be the name for a minor god, ‘Aravinda’ – the god of wit, intelligence and shrewd scholarship. In conformity with those meaning, Arvind symbolize our precious wealth, eternal prosperity and representing blessing from God upon our family. Arvind also have a particular signification of scholarship or knowledge which both his parents strive for when he was born.

Adiyatama is two combine word “Adiya” and “Tama”. The name Adiya stems from the Indian word which means, “Gods Gift.” Adiya also a fluke combination of Arvind’s Grandpa and Grandma from Mom’s side: Hadi + Setya(ningsih). The name Tama is originally quoted from word Utama which is mean “Prime.” Ergo, Adiyatama signify as “the prime of gods gift.”

Finally, one may start to be curious what is the overall meaning of Arvind’s full-name. Me and wifey do not intend to put many thoughtful meaning on Arvind’s name. The one with possible brief meaning of Arvind’s full-name is: “First-born male Ksatriya which is the prime of gods gift that strive for knowledge.” For us, he is a precious gift from God. Our simple hope - a humble pray - upon him is that he will be a good individual who learn universal knowledge of life and share it to others.

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