Enter the date, place and both birth times above, and this free tool finds the Moon’s nakshatra and pada at each twin’s birth, the first syllable that pada gives, and pairs of names from our collection that start with those syllables and end alike, such as two names that both end in -ika. Every name comes from the same list as our baby names by nakshatra pages, with its meaning. If you do not know the times, the tool shows every pada the Moon passed through that day, with the hours and the pairs for each.
How it works
In the Hindu naming tradition the first sound of a name comes from the Moon at the moment of birth. The sky is divided into 27 nakshatras, each cut into four padas, and each pada has one syllable in the traditional table called the Avakahada chakra. Twins are two births, so each twin has a moment of their own, and the tool reads the Moon at each.
The steps are the same as on the baby names by date of birth tool. The local time of each birth is turned into universal time with the time zone in force at the birth place on that date, daylight saving included. The Moon’s position comes from the NASA JPL DE440 tables on this site, with the Lahiri ayanamsa, and gives the nakshatra and pada. The syllable of that pada then picks the names from our list.
The pairs come from a plain spelling rule of ours. Two names count as sounding alike when they end in the same three letters, which we list first, or more loosely in the same two letters. Two spellings of one name, such as Ishan and Ishaan, are never offered as a pair.
Reading the result
Most twins share a pada. In our check over eleven full years from 1900 to 2074, the Moon stayed in one pada for between 5.2 and 6.8 hours, and two births 10 minutes apart fell in the same pada 97.3 times in a hundred; at an hour apart it was 83.5 times in a hundred. When both twins share a pada, the result shows one syllable, the pairs that end alike and the full list of names for that syllable.
When the Moon changed pada between the two births, the result says at what time, and each twin takes the syllable of their own birth. The pairs then join a name for the first twin with a name for the second.
If you choose boy or girl for each twin, the lists follow your choice. Leaving it open lists both. The name list is a starting point. Each nakshatra has its own page, for example Rohini, and the baby name finder searches the whole list by letter, meaning and rashi.
Where traditions differ
Families differ on twin names. Some like two names that rhyme, some prefer names that share a meaning, and some prefer names that sound quite different, so the twins are never confused. The tool only helps with the first, and the full lists are there for the rest.
The syllable table has its own variations. Tables that count Abhijit as a 28th nakshatra give Shravana other syllables, and some families in Gujarat and elsewhere use a first-letter chart by rashi instead of the pada syllable. Our baby names hub explains both. A syllable is a custom, and many families keep a formal name from it and use another name at home.
What it does not do
It does not judge a name as lucky or unlucky, and it does not read the rest of either twin’s chart. It does not make up new names or join two names together: every name shown is one already in our list with its standard meaning. It does not check the numerology of the spelling, which the name number calculator does as a separate and lighter tradition. The family, or the priest at the namakarana, makes the final choice.
Frequently asked questions
↳ How are twin baby names chosen by nakshatra?
Each twin's name traditionally begins with the syllable of the nakshatra pada the Moon was in at that twin's birth. The tool finds the pada for each birth time, then lists names from our collection that begin with each syllable, and pairs that end alike.
↳ Do twins get the same first letter?
Usually, because the Moon stays in one pada for several hours. In our check over eleven years between 1900 and 2074, it stayed between 5.2 and 6.8 hours, so twins born a few minutes apart nearly always share the syllable. If the Moon changed pada between the births, each twin takes the syllable of their own birth time, and the tool says so.
↳ What if we do not know the times of birth?
Tick the box and the tool follows the Moon through the whole birth date at the birth place. It shows every pada it passed through, with the hours, and the pairs of names for each. If the family remembers roughly when the twins were born, that is usually enough to choose.
↳ How does the tool decide that two names sound alike?
By spelling: two names that end in the same three letters come first, and two that end in the same two letters come next. It is a simple rule of ours and not a tradition, so read the full lists as well, where you may like a pair the rule does not catch.
↳ Why are there no pairs for our syllable?
Some syllables have few names in real use, so our list holds only a few for them, and none of those may end alike. The tool still shows the names it has. Families often take the nearest sound in that case, which our baby names hub describes as an accepted practice.
↳ Does the tool make up names by joining two names?
No. Every name it shows is a name in our list, with the standard meaning given on our baby names pages. Pairs are two such names placed side by side.
↳ Does the tool keep our details?
The Moon is worked out in your browser. Once your email is confirmed, what you enter and the headline of the result are kept with your email, so our emails can fit you. You can delete them at any time; the privacy policy has the detail.