India Name Meaning & Origin
India
Origin of the name India:
Taken from the name of the subcontinent, India seems to have originally been bestowed in reference to familial ties with, and affection for, the country.
From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.
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US Popularity of India Over Time

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- 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"