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Cf. This viral tweet. Since I don’t have kids and rarely meet kids (Indian or otherwise) I had no idea this was happening, though I vaguely noticed that easy “crossover” and made up Indianish names were getting more popular.
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My god I am walking past a desi birthday party and literally every boy name has a ‘aan’ sound in it. Avyaan. Viyaan. Vihaan. Aryamaan. Guys what is going on? Which website is responsible for this? Can the government intervene? Maybe an ordinance? Some OCI restriction?
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Black people: either take over obsolete European names like Tyrone or make up names with apostrophes East Asians: take a second Western name either from a TV show or relatively rare like Henry Indians: invent bizarre vaguely Indian sounding code-switch-friendly names.
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The supply of true overlap names with distinct Indian and western senses is sharply limited and mostly female: Maya, Leela… And most names are not easily anglicized. Siddharth can become Sid. I knew a Shanmuganathan who turned into a Nathan. But most names won’t adapt easily.
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If you have an ear for Indian languages you can pick out the made-up names easily. It’s the mix of too-easy pronounceability when spelled in English and a certain lack of auditory heft. A fragility that you know is not backed by long-term historical survival.
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