From AbRam to Czar: Bollywood parents pick the weirdest names for their kids

“What’s in a name?” William Shakespeare had famously asked. The answer: the possibility of standing out in a crowd. Once upon a time, people named their children after people they respected or because it sounded nice to their ears. Increasingly, though, with our curiosity getting the better of us, celebrities are putting a fair amount of effort into naming their children and the end result is frequently both eye-catching and perplexing. While Bollywood still has a long way to go before it gives rock stars like Frank Zappa (he named his son Dweezil)and Michael Hutchence (his daughter’s name is Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily) a run for their imagination, there are a few who have come up with rather fantastic names for their kids. 1. While their elder children have more conventional names — Aryan and Suhana —  Gauri and Shah Rukh Khan chose an intriguing spelling for AbRam, who was born through surrogacy in 2013. Explaining the meaning of AbRam during a press conference, Khan said, " AbRam is a Jewish connotation of Hazrat Ibrahim, so I think it is a good mix. … It sounds very nice with the name of Hindu god Ram in it." [caption id=“attachment_1745871” align=“aligncenter” width=“620”]  Courtesy: Twitter[/caption]   2. Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna named their daughter Nitara Khanna. Her surname is Khanna because she’s taking her grandfather’s name as a tribute (some may think it sounds nicer than “Bhatia”, which is Kumar’s real surname). Reportedly, ‘Nitara’ in Sanskrit means “having deep roots”. However, here is the fun part: a vampire in the game series Mortal Kombat also goes by the same name. Chances are, the proud parents weren’t aware of this aspect to Nitara’s name. [caption id=“attachment_1745873” align=“aligncenter” width=“620”]  Courtesy: ibn live[/caption]   3. Kajol and Ajay Devgn welcomed a baby girl on 20 April, 2003. The couple named their daughter Nysa Devgn. The named Nysa is of Greek origin and has many different meanings. While some reckon that it is the name of the Goddess of Purity, others say it means a new beginning. [caption id=“attachment_1745875” align=“aligncenter” width=“620”]  Sachin Gokhale/Firstpost[/caption]   4. Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti let their imaginations run wild while naming their kids and came up with quite unusual names. Their son is called Zeke Zidaan and their daughter has been christened Zene Zoe. In case you thought Zeke Zidaan’s name is an ode to French footballer Zinedine Zidane, it isn’t. Apparently, it means ‘shooting star’ in Aramaic. Zene Zoe means ‘beautiful’ in an African language. [caption id=“attachment_1745879” align=“aligncenter” width=“620”]  Courtesy: Wikipedia[/caption]   5. Farah Khan’s cheerful flamboyance isn’t limited to her films. She named her triplets Czar, Diva and Anya. Anya means ‘grace’; Diva is derived from the word ‘divine’; and Czar is taken from the Latin word for emperor. We’re pretty sure that when Diva was in her terrible twos, Khan and her husband may have rued their choice of names. [caption id=“attachment_1745881” align=“aligncenter” width=“620”]  Courtesy: Facebook[/caption]   6. Sanjay Dutt and Manyata twins are called Shahraan and Iqra. Apparently, Iqra means ’to educate’ and Shahraan means a ‘knight’ or ‘warrior’ in Persian. The twins were born on 21 October 2010. [caption id=“attachment_1745887” align=“aligncenter” width=“620”]  Courtesy: ibn live[/caption]