Two letter rules are in use in Hindu naming. The nakshatra rule reads the first sound of a name from the pada the Moon occupied at birth. The rashi rule is simpler: every first letter belongs to one of the 12 signs, and a name is filed under the sign of its first letter. The twelve pages below follow the chart that the free name rashi calculator uses, with boy and girl names and their meanings for every letter.
The twelve rashis
| Rashi | Sign | Chart letters | Boy names | Girl names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesha | Aries | A, I, L | 73 | 68 |
| Vrishabha | Taurus | B, V, U | 76 | 68 |
| Mithuna | Gemini | K, Chh, Gh | 32 | 36 |
| Karka | Cancer | D, H | 31 | 23 |
| Simha | Leo | M, T | 36 | 33 |
| Kanya | Virgo | P, Th, N | 43 | 36 |
| Tula | Libra | R, T | 56 | 61 |
| Vrishchika | Scorpio | N, Y | 64 | 47 |
| Dhanu | Sagittarius | Bh, Ph, Dh | 42 | 26 |
| Makara | Capricorn | Kh, J | 31 | 25 |
| Kumbha | Aquarius | G, S, Sh | 76 | 61 |
| Meena | Pisces | D, Ch, Jh, Th | 61 | 55 |
A letter can appear in two signs because English spelling joins sounds that Devanagari keeps apart. T is ट in Simha and त in Tula, D is ड in Karka and द in Meena, N is ण in Kanya and न in Vrishchika, and Th is ठ in Kanya and थ in Meena. The pages use the true sound of each name, so Deepak, which begins with the dental द, is filed under Meena.
Rashi letters and nakshatra letters
The two rules do not always agree, and each rashi page sets its own chart letters beside the syllables of the nakshatras that fall in that sign. For the syllable rule, use the baby names hub, which has a page for each of the 27 nakshatras. To search every name by letter, nakshatra, rashi or a word in its meaning, use the name finder, or browse the names A to Z.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What is the difference between the rashi chart and the nakshatra syllables?
The nakshatra syllables depend on the pada of the Moon at birth, so they change about every six hours. The rashi chart depends only on the first letter of the name and gives each of the 12 signs a fixed set of letters.
↳ Which rashi should I use for a baby name?
Many families pick the nakshatra syllable first and treat the rashi chart as a second check, while others use only the chart. There is no single rule that every family follows, so use the custom of your family or your priest.
↳ Is the name rashi the same as the birth rashi?
No. The birth rashi is the sign of the Moon at the time of birth, and it is the one used for chart reading, Sade Sati and matching. The name rashi is only the sign that the first letter of the name belongs to.
↳ Why are E and O missing from the chart?
The chart as used on this site lists the letters in the table above and does not give E or O a sign. The nakshatra syllables put both sounds in Vrishabha, so the E and O names are filed on the Vrishabha page.