Naming in Sikh families | BabyNameCircle

In Sikh families a baby is usually named in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib, most often at a gurdwara. The ceremony, Naam Karan, is set out in the Sikh Rehat Maryada, the code of conduct published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Sangats and families vary in the details. The outline below follows the Rehat Maryada.

When and where

The Rehat Maryada does not fix a day. It says that as soon as the mother is able to move about and bathe, however many days that takes, the family and relatives should go to the gurdwara with karah prashad, or have it prepared there. Hymns of joy and thanks are then sung before the Guru Granth Sahib. Among the examples it gives is Guru Arjan's shabad in Raag Asa beginning "Satguru sache dia bhej" (Ang 396), which gives thanks for the birth of a child. If a reading of the Guru Granth Sahib has been under way, it is completed at this point.

The Hukamnama and the first letter

Next the Hukam, the Guru's command, is taken: the Guru Granth Sahib is opened and a hymn is read from the page. This reading is often called the Hukamnama. Under the Rehat Maryada, the granthi then proposes a name beginning with the first letter of that hymn, and once the sangat accepts it, the granthi announces it. If the hymn begins with the letter ਸ (sassa), for example, the child's name will start with an S sound.

Any name that begins with the letter can be put forward. Common building blocks include Gur-, Har-, Man- and Jas- at the start of a name and -preet, -jit, -deep and -inder at the end. Once the name is agreed, the ceremony closes with the short Anand Sahib of six stanzas, an Ardas giving thanks for the naming, and the sharing of karah prashad.

Singh and Kaur

The Rehat Maryada says a boy's name must carry the suffix Singh and a girl's the suffix Kaur. Singh means lion, and Kaur is usually translated as princess. Singh was taken by men initiated into the Khalsa from its founding by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, and both names express a community without caste in which all members are equal. Historians differ on when Kaur came into general use, and it became standard for Sikh women through the Singh Sabha reformers and the Rehat Maryada. Today both names are given to Sikh children at birth.

Many Sikh first names are used for both boys and girls, so Singh or Kaur is often what shows whether a name belongs to a son or a daughter. Families use the names in different ways. Some use Singh or Kaur as the surname, while others add a family surname after it, which makes Singh or Kaur appear as a middle name on forms. Settle this before you register the birth, since the birth certificate is the first official record of the name. Our registration guide explains how passports handle given names and surnames.

Sources

Checked 25 Oct 2026. Families and communities differ; this guide describes common practice.