India

Where India comes from

Inherited from Old English India, Indea, from Latin India, from Ancient Greek Ἰνδία (Indía), from Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós, “Indus river”), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿdūš), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu), ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš (“river”). Compare Middle English Inde and Ynde from Old French Ynde (original form started to prevail in the 16th century), Classical Persian هند (hind, “India”), Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “a river, stream”). Doublet of Indus, Sindhu, Hindu, and Sindh.
— Wiktionary's entry for India
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #492 among girls — 12 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1975
    India Summer born
    American pornographic actress
  3. 1993
    India Eisley born
    American actress
  4. 2001
    Peak, #299
    1,049 babies named India — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2006
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #563.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name.
Namesakes
  • India Summer · American pornographic actress, born 1975
  • India Eisley · American actress, born 1993
  • India Allen · American model and actress, born 1965
  • India de Beaufort · British actress, born 1987
  • India Hair · French actress, born 1987

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.