I belatedly realized that there were a few categories that had been left out in the first post on Mallu Christian names…

The list continueth:

1.  Phonetically translated from shortened English names  (Elizabeth = Lizzy or Jessica = Jessie or Rosemary = Rosy) but then subsequently miss-spelled, e.g. Lissy or Licy (fortunately not Lousy!)  I once came across a Wincy – kept me wondering if a miss-spelled Eensy weensy spider nursery rhyme was responsible!   The reason is that the letter ‘z’ does not exist in Malayalam – the closest equivalents are ’s’ and ‘c’!

Male Mallus are not spared.  I once met a ‘Reggie’ (or so I thought) and innocently asked him if his full name was Reginald – as in the Archie comics.  he threw me a disgusted look and then spelled it out to dispel any doubt. “R-e-j-i : that’s my full first name.”

“Oh!” I replied, trying to be polite, “Ji like the Northies – with respect and all that jazz… ”  I trailed off as he gave me a blank look!

2.  Names that sound like noises – the most common from Kerala is Achu which sounds like a loud, too-late-to-check sneeze to me.

Tamil is not immune to similar tendencies – Kichu is extremely common diminutive of Krishna – I think that sounds like a politely suppressed sneeze!  I once met a Bhooma and couldn’t help thinking her name sounded like a mini explosion!

Here is a post from Timofeyevich on some more amazing laugh-aloud examples of Tamil names!

© Sosha Srinivasan