What's happening with male Sikh names?

[MisterrSingh]

Recently I've come across quite a few strange Sikh names online and later IRL at various social functions and get-togethers. At first I thought they were trolls (online on places like YouTube) but then a few months later I'd physically meet people with the same type of names, and they obviously aren't trolling anyone.

Har5hit, Hardik, etc. The "Har" aspect is self explanatory and not uncommon, but what's the craic with "5hit" and "dik"? When did these kind of names come into use? Some of these people can also speak decent English, so that confuses me further. They must know their names are verging on dodgy.

[Singh375]

Any discussion on this topic would need to begin with discussing why your username is “Misterr” rather than “Mr”.

You might say ‘mr was already taken’. But serious point - that’s how some peculiar names/id’s come about. What the person wanted was not available, so they picked something else. Even as a bit of a joke, maybe an auto suggestion, then it sort of sticks with them in real life. The names you mention probably originate from gaming platforms

[MisterrSingh]

6 hours ago, Singh375 said:

Any discussion on this topic would need to begin with discussing why your username is “Misterr” rather than “Mr”.

You might say ‘mr was already taken’. But serious point - that’s how some peculiar names/id’s come about. What the person wanted was not available, so they picked something else. Even as a bit of a joke, maybe an auto suggestion, then it sort of sticks with them in real life. The names you mention probably originate from gaming platforms

Mods added the extra R without telling me. It annoys the heck out of me.

[ChardikalaUK]

I've heard of Gujaratis having these names, never apne. 

I once worked with a Harshit, the guy was obviously embarrassed by his name and abbreviated it to just Harsh. 

[MisterrSingh]

36 minutes ago, ChardikalaUK said:

I've heard of Gujaratis having these names, never apne. 

I once worked with a Harshit, the guy was obviously embarrassed by his name and abbreviated it to just Harsh. 

Some of them have "Singh" after the forename. Granted, none of them were keshdharis.

 

[5aaban]

On 8/7/2022 at 2:04 AM, MisterrSingh said:

Recently I've come across quite a few strange Sikh names online and later IRL at various social functions and get-togethers. At first I thought they were trolls (online on places like YouTube) but then a few months later I'd physically meet people with the same type of names, and they obviously aren't trolling anyone.

Har5hit, Hardik, etc. The "Har" aspect is self explanatory and not uncommon, but what's the craic with "5hit" and "dik"? When did these kind of names come into use? Some of these people can also speak decent English, so that confuses me further. They must know their names are verging on dodgy.

They are probably following standard Hindu/Indian names. There's also an Indian cricketer named Hardik Pandya, maybe they're fans? I don't think they realise what the names mean.

A few prefix/suffix Panjabi names can also end up sounding weird! That's why I believe traditional Sikh/Panjabi names were best prior to this suffix/prefix trend. 

[ChardikalaUK]

Names like Arshdeep and Sukhdeep should also be avoided in the west. 

[MisterrSingh]

1 hour ago, 5aaban said:

A few prefix/suffix Panjabi names can also end up sounding weird! That's why I believe old traditional Sikh names were best prior to this trend. 

I preferred Punjabi names even prior to the "Preet", "Pal", "Inder", etc., Punjabi etymological movement of the 1960s onward, lol. It's sad that we'll never see young Sikhs with names likes Manmohan, Harbans, etc.

[proudkaur21]

Sikhs had such beautiful names  Baghel singh, Zorawer singh, Fateh Singh when did this manpreet harpreet came into being? It just shows cultural decadence.

[ChardikalaUK]

32 minutes ago, proudkaur21 said:

Sikhs had such beautiful names  Baghel singh, Zorawer singh, Fateh Singh when did this manpreet harpreet came into being? It just shows cultural decadence.

There's nothing wrong with the preet, pal, inder names. It was just the fashion from the 1950s - 1990s. Any they're better than the Jayden, Ethan, Keira, Sienna that a lot of apne in the west are choosing nowadays. The ones that do go for Indian names usually do go for older names like you've mentioned. These things go around in circles like most fashions.