Many Hindu families choose a name that begins with a syllable linked to the baby's birth star. This is a naming tradition, not a forecast: the syllable says nothing about how a child will turn out, and families who prefer not to use it are free to choose any name. Here is how the system works, so you can follow what your priest or panchang tells you.
Nakshatra, pada and syllable
In Indian astronomy the ecliptic, the circle of the zodiac against which the positions of the Moon and planets are measured, is divided into 27 nakshatras, or lunar mansions, each spanning 13 degrees 20 minutes. Some early texts list 28, adding Abhijit, which most later lists drop. Each nakshatra is split into four quarters called padas, which gives 108 padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes each.
Your baby's birth star, the janma nakshatra, is the nakshatra the Moon occupied at the moment of birth, and the pada is the quarter of it. Working this out needs the date, the exact time and the place of birth. Each pada has a traditional syllable. In the chart published by Drik Panchang, the four padas of Ashwini give Chu, Che, Cho and La, and those of Krittika give A, Ee, U and E.
Rashi syllables come from the same table. The 12 rashis, or Moon signs, each cover 30 degrees, which is exactly nine padas, so a rashi's syllables are the syllables of the nine padas inside it. Mesha (Aries), for instance, contains all of Ashwini and Bharani and the first pada of Krittika, so its syllables in the Drik Panchang chart are Chu, Che, Cho, La, Li, Lu, Le, Lo and A.
Why charts differ
If you compare two charts you will often find small differences, and sometimes larger ones.
- Regional patterns. For Shravana, Drik Panchang gives Khi, Khu, Khe and Kho, while the chart in the Himalayan Academy's book How to Become a Hindu and a Telugu chart from OnlineJyotish begin the star with Ju, Je and Jo. For the last two padas of Mula, Drik Panchang has भा and भी (bha, bhi) where those charts have ba and bi.
- Long and short vowels. Devanagari distinguishes short and long vowels, and charts do not always agree on which belongs to a pada. For the first pada of Krittika, Drik Panchang prints अ (a) where the Himalayan Academy prints आ (ā). For the third pada of Dhanishtha, Drik Panchang has गु (gu) and the Himalayan Academy गू (gū), and for the first pada of Ashwini, Drik Panchang has चु where Vedadhara has चू. In English letters both forms are usually spelled the same way, so "Chu" on one website may stand for either.
- Rare sounds. A few padas carry syllables that seldom begin a word. The Himalayan Academy notes that it is common practice to choose a similar syllable, or to use another pada of the same nakshatra if too few names are available.
Confirm with your own priest
Because charts differ, the chart your family or temple follows matters more than any single website, including this one. Births close to the boundary between two padas also need care. The Moon takes about six hours on average to cross a pada, so a small error in the recorded time of birth can move a baby into the next one. Your priest or family astrologer can confirm the nakshatra and pada from the exact birth details and tell you which syllables your tradition uses.
Using the syllable is optional. Some families use it only for a ritual name and give the child a different everyday name, and others choose freely.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Nakshatra'
- Drik Panchang, Nakshatra Pada Swar table
- Himalayan Academy, How to Become a Hindu, ch. 8, 'Sanskrit Birthstar Syllables'
- OnlineJyotish.com, Telugu astrology lesson 3 (nama nakshatra syllables)
- Vedadhara, Ashwini nakshatra (Avakahadadi syllables)
Checked 25 Oct 2026. Families and communities differ; this guide describes common practice.