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We named our daughter Asha in 1985 based on a list of Sanskrit names a friend from India put together for us. The Sanskrit meaning he assigned to it was "hope" and is a common name in India for females. Since then I've discovered that Asha has much older & deeper origins. In ancient Persia, the Zorastrian concept of reality was a war between good (Ahuru Mazda) and evil (Ahriman). Ahuru Mazda worked through seven forces of good (Amehsa Spentas), and Asha was one of the most important of these forces (Asha Vahishta was "truth" or "right order"). The symbol of Asha was fire, and in even earlier times was a male god of fire. I strongly suspect the English word "ash" comes from the same source since, after a fire consumes the outer material, ash remains as the essence or "truth" of the material. This explains why, in eastern thought, ashes are often thought to be sacred. For example, the tilak (mark on the forehead signifiying the third eye) is often made with a paste of sacred ashes (vibhuti). I suspect the word Ashram (holy retreat or community)is from the same source.

Asha is an extremely powerful name, volatile of energy but filled with the light of transformation - just like my daughter.

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Asha, a character in "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling