Boy · Tamil (from Sanskrit akhila) · Tamil
Akilan
அகிலன்Say it uh-KI-lun
- Meaning today
- Wise, intelligent
- Original meaning
- "from akilam, the whole; the universe, the earth" Tamil Lexicon, p. 17
- Say it
- uh-KI-lun
- Written
- அகிலன்
- Other spellings
- Agilan, Akhilan
Akilan
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Akilan meaning
Akilan (அகிலன்) is a Tamil boy's name.
Meaning today
Wise, intelligent
Original Tamil (from Sanskrit akhila) meaning
"from akilam, the whole; the universe, the earth"
Source: Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (1924–36), p. 17 · entry akilam (அகிலம்) · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
Akilan (அகிலன்) is a modern Tamil boys' name built on akilam with the masculine ending -aṉ. The Tamil Lexicon of the University of Madras traces akilam to Sanskrit a-khila and gives it as the whole or entirety, the universe and the earth, and also water. A name formed from it reads as "he of the whole world". Name lists today usually give "wise" or "intelligent", a sense we could not find in the Lexicon, so it appears to be a modern meaning that has grown up with the name. The name is well known through the novelist Akilan, the pen name of P. V. Akilandam (1922–1988), whose novel Chithirappavai won the Jnanpith Award in 1975.
References: Tamil Lexicon, akilam (அகிலம்), p. 17 · Wikipedia, Akilan
Famous namesakes
- Akilan (P. V. Akilandam), Tamil novelist and Jnanpith laureate
Spellings
Akilan · Agilan · Akhilan