What Is In A Name?

12 Feb 2017 40 Comments

by Ritu in Humour, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: , , , , ,

After the Get To Know Me Tag post, and reading Debbie’s post about names, I felt inspired to write another post! (You know me, blogaholic and all that!)

So, if you didn’t read my tag post (and why ever not??!! ;P) the question was “Who were you named after?”

My answer was this:

 I don’t believe I was named after anyone specific. But what I do know is that my name, Ratinder, was meant to be! It is a custom  in the Sikh religion for the parents to go to the temple after a baby is born. Prayers are done, and then a random page is opened in the Guru Granth Sahib (our holy book) and the letter that starts the first page is the letter that the baby’s name should start with. My parents already wanted to call me Ratinder, Ritu for short, but the rest of the family were expecting this tradition to be upheld. Pops went, and R came out, but his sisters didn’t believe him, so it was done again with one of his sisters as a witness, and lo and behold, R came out again. So you see, I was destined to be Ratinder/Ritu!

Yet there are other aspects to my name, and little stories surrounding it.

Like I was always Ratinder, to everyone at school, and to my mum if I had misbehaved! But it was Ritu that I was called at home and in the family. Affectionately called Ritu by those I loved, and those who loved me.

Ratinder was a bit of a mouthful, and when we were around eleven years old, we studied The Wind In The Willows, and were introduced to Ratty.

Image result for wind in the willows ratty

Ratty from The Wind In The Wilows

He was a lovely rodent, kind of heart and all that, but the name Ratty doesn’t always make you think positive thoughts. Nevertheless, one of the girls in my class cottoned on to the fact that my name started with Rat… so Ratty, as my nickname, was born! From eleven to seventeen, I was henceforth known as Ritu at home, Ratinder to my teachers (and mum if I’d been naughty!) and Ratty to my classmates. Thanks Kenneth Grahame!

Image result for wind in the willows illustrations

Another affectionate moniker, which my brother resorts to sometimes, is Tindi Paal. Full maiden name was Ratinder Padhaal. One of my school friends had a little sister who couldn’t say my name, and Tindi Paal is what came out. It stuck too!

Starting university was a big thing. The birth of my independence, I guess, and a chance for me to give myself the identity I wanted.

Again Ratinder was the name my tutors used, apart from Pam, one of my favourite Drama tutors, who used to called me Tinder (not the app, thank you very much! This was a long time before then!)

But I introduced myself as Ritu. This was the name I thought of with a lot of affection. This was the simple Indian me. No more Ratty, or Ratinder! 

Just Ritu.

And since then, that is what I am known as.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love the name Ratinder… Tried to find a meaning for it… It can be made up of two portions… Rati and Inder

What does the name Rati mean?

The meaning of the name “Rati” is: “Repose; (sexual) pleasure”.

What does the name Inder mean?

In Hindi the meaning of the name Inder is:Supreme god.

So what, am I the Supreme God(dess) of Pleasure??! Sounds kinda fun!

This is in the Hindu name dictionaries!

We aren’t Hindu, but Sikh, Punjabi, so I asked my Pops and Mum and they said to them, Ratinder meant Changing Seasons. And Kaur, the middle name for all Sikh women meant Princess, so my name meant Princess of the Changing Seasons. (Don’t confuse that with the weather… I am NOT responsible for the changeable weather! Jut the seasons, apparently!)

And on a side note, Ritu means Season, so I guess I’ll go with my parent’s definition… thought the Hindu one does sound cool!

So, tell me, any interesting stories about your name? Leave a note in the comments!!!

40 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. tjt072
    Mar 06, 2017 @ 18:50:33

    I don’t think there is anything special about my name (Teresa). I do know that my dad wanted to name me Diana Ross lol

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. John Holton
    Feb 19, 2017 @ 21:16:09

    Nothing especially special about my name; it was real popular in the Fifties, and I was named for my maternal grandfather. I was almost William, after my Dad, but he didn’t want a Junior, because he felt the kid would always living up to or down from his dad. He said “absolutely not!” for all three of us.

    Season was a pretty popular name in the US for a time, thanks to the actress Season Hubley. You could always go with that, but I kind of like Ritu.

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  3. Judy E Martin
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 17:52:00

    I love the Goddess of Pleasure definition the best, Sis!!! You suit ‘Ritu’ perfectly. It is a very pretty name, whatever the definition 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. Prajakta
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 05:55:13

    You just answered the question – what’s in a name! There is a lot going on here 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Dorinda Duclos
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 05:13:37

    People always jokingly ask me if I was named after two rich aunties, Doreen and Linda. Nope. My mom got my name from a Catholic book of names. Dorinda means ‘a gift from Heaven’. I’ll take it. Of course, growing up I was nicknamed Dori. I didn’t like it then and I will not answer to it now ( no offense to any Dori out there). I made my declaration that I would only answer to Dorinda or Dor. It’s still that way today 😊

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  6. Jennie
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 03:39:14

    Thanks for this post, Ritu. So interesting to learn about names. Where I am from, the southern part of the U.S., it is customary for a child’s middle name to be a family name. For example, our daughter’s middle name is my husband’s mother’s maiden name. Our son’s middle name is my father’s name. First names are often repeated with family members; Sarah, Jane, John, etc. If there are many family members with the same first name, that child may be called by his or her middle name. It seems simple to me, but as I type this, it sounds complex.

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  7. Dagne Goodwin
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 22:08:30

    I am a recruiter and the most interesting name I ever saw was….Tolita Candle. Yes that says To Light a Candle.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. willowdot21
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 18:28:29

    It is a lovely name Ritu. xxxx

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. robbiesinspiration
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 17:33:52

    That is a lovely meaning, Ritu. I also have a full name that I don’t use.

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. Traci York
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 17:20:45

    Love all the little tidbits about your name! I especially love Ratty, especially since I loved Wind in the Willows when I was young.

    You would think that with a short name like mine, no one would bother with nicknames, but I have a bunch. Some of the ones based on my name (leaving out the camp nicknames and such – LOL) are – Trace-face, Tray, Catwoman (my initials before I got married were T. A. C., so backwards…), Icart (again with the backwards) Tee, and Cavanaugh (my maiden name – go figure!).

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  11. Erika Kind
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 16:47:58

    Haha! Awesome thoughts about the meaning of your name. I like those about Ratinder a lot more than Ratty… hehe! By today I did not know that your real name wasn’t Ritu! I learned a lot today 😄

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. vanbytheriver
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 16:10:09

    What a great name, even better “source”. I’d be proud, Ritu. My name is based on Greek “gift of the gods”..Dorothy.

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Aedit
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 16:06:14

    The letter V popped out as according to the hindu naming ritual, which i am not much aware of xD, and that led by Grandma naming me Vikas.
    But with the letter V, also popped out the letter U, and my uncle used to work in an industry named Uday, so he named me Udit. And between the two names, Udit stayed. (Though i would have preferred Vikas more 😶)

    This friend of my cousin, called me Pikulu, for no reason at all, and because it was imprinted over a bat he gifted me, i didnt find it any bad. Passing over the years, some friends started calling me “yoU Did IT”, and damn it was so cool to hear them say it.

    Lastly, been confused after adapting many pen names over the past ten years, i am currently using Aedit. I love the letter A, and i have this habit of sometimes “edit”ing my writings over and over, also it contains the ‘dit’ from Udit.

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. susieshy45
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 15:25:08

    Ritu,
    Very interesting post. I like the Hindu meaning of your name too and I think it defines you as well as the Sikh meaning. You are doubly lucky to have a meaningful name.
    My middle name Susan which I have shortened and use as my blog name means lily in Hebrew. I loved this meaning and though I don’t use my middle name much in real life, I really love my name. I like to think it symbolizes purity.
    My first name means stars and that I like too.
    Names and their origins are so interesting, don’t you think ?
    Susie

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. Ruth
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 14:55:16

    My parents were planning to call me Pamela, but decided in the end on Ruth, as it could not realistically be shortened to any nickname – but ironically I spent much of my younger years answering to Ruthie, so in the end my given name was actually lengthened by others, not shortened! A few people still call me Ruthie even today, which I still answer to without a second thought… 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. Trackback: What’s in a name? 😇 – Emotions That Matter.

  17. IreneDesign2011
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 14:35:47

    Fun to read about so many explanations about your name, Ritu 🙂
    Now you are free to choose, which one you prefer 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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