Divine names देव नाम

Many Indian names are epithets of a deity — a quality, a place, or a story attached to them. These groups collect the catalog names whose meaning explicitly refers to one.

553 names across 11 groups.

God

Shiva

Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, worshipped as the ascetic on Kailasa and as Nataraja, lord of the cosmic dance. Names in this group refer to him or to his consort Parvati by one of his many epithets.

154 names →

God

Ganesha

Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is invoked at the start of undertakings as the remover of obstacles and lord of the ganas.

17 names →

God

Krishna

Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, is remembered as the cowherd of Vrindavan, the flute player, and the charioteer who delivers the Bhagavad Gita.

80 names →

God

Vishnu

Vishnu is the preserver of the cosmos, resting on Shesha in Vaikuntha and descending across the ten avatars. Many of these names are epithets from the Vishnu Sahasranama tradition.

99 names →

God

Rama

Rama, prince of Ayodhya and seventh avatar of Vishnu, is the hero of the Ramayana and the traditional model of maryada — right conduct.

55 names →

God

Hanuman

Hanuman, son of the wind god and devotee of Rama, is invoked for strength, courage and steadfast service.

5 names →

Goddess

Durga

Durga is the warrior form of the Great Goddess, worshipped across her fierce and benign aspects — Chandika, Ambika, Gauri and Kali among them.

56 names →

Goddess

Lakshmi

Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu, is the goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity, honoured especially at Diwali.

51 names →

Goddess

Saraswati

Saraswati is the goddess of speech, learning, music and the arts, invoked by students and musicians at Vasant Panchami.

11 names →

Epic

Ramayana

Names drawn from the Ramayana beyond Rama himself — Sita and her family of Videha, Lakshmana, Urmila and the rest of the Ayodhya household.

13 names →

Epic

Mahabharata

Names from the Mahabharata — the Pandava brothers, Draupadi, and the many epithets by which Arjuna is known.

12 names →

About these groups

A name appears in a group when its recorded meaning names that deity or one of their epithets. The number on each card is the size of the real list — these are not the traditional 108-name Ashtottara Shatanamavali collections, and we do not present them as such. Groups with fewer than 5 names are not shown at all.