Contribute your knowledge to the name India

Comments and insights on the name India

Idina, India and Nidia are anagrams of each other; they contain the same letters.

India is I in the NATO phonetic alphabet

Historically the usage of this name dates to the British Raj, when colonial officers began to give it to their daughters. Recent usage is probably more likely to reference a parent's experience traveling in or perhaps family heritage from India - but it is worth being aware that the colonial associations may make some people uncomfortable.

Having always thought India was a beautiful name, I asked a very dear Indian-American friend of mine what she thought of the name, and she reminded me that the name comes from the Indus river. And so it can be colonialist, or it can be a river. Alternately, in Mexico it often refers to a native person, or, in derogatory slang, a wild person. My husband and I have been discussing naming our daughter India, and his Mexican relatives are horrified, but we actually find it to be a way of reclaiming something that should never have been anything but beautiful to begin with. Many complex meanings to this one.

Personal experiences with the name India

One of the famed Little Rock Nine Mebla Pattilio-Beals' Grandmother was named India.
My little sister is named India!!!

Nicknames for India

Indie, Dia, Inna, In, De, Indi Lu, LuLu

Meanings and history of the name India

Famous real-life people named India

India Hicks, daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks, niece of the Duke of Edinburgh and lifestyle guru
India Jane Birley, English artist and nightclub owner
India Knight, English journalist and author
India.Arie, American singer-songwriter
India Rose Hemsworth (b. 2012), daughter of Australian actor Chris Hemsworth
India Rose Parnes (b. 2018), daughter of American reality television personality David Parnes

India in song, story & screen

India Wilkes in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind"