Girl · Sanskrit · Hindu
Anjali
अंजलिSay it UN-ja-lee
- Meaning today
- Divine offering
- Original meaning
- "hands joined and hollowed in reverence; salutation, benediction" Monier-Williams, p. 11
- Say it
- UN-ja-lee
- Written
- अंजलि
- Other spellings
- Anjalee, Anjli
- First sound
- अ · Mesh rashi
Anjali
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Anjali meaning
Anjali (अंजलि) is a Hindu girl's name of Sanskrit origin. By its first sound, अ, it is a Mesh rashi name (Krittika nakshatra) in the North Indian table.
Hands joined and hollowed in reverence; salutation, benediction
Also used to mean: divine offering
Anjali (अंजलि) is the Sanskrit añjali, the gesture of holding both open hands side by side, slightly hollowed. Monier-Williams explains that the hands are held this way as if to receive something, and that raised to the forehead the gesture is a mark of supplication, which gives the word its further senses of "reverence, salutation, benediction". An udakāñjali is an offering of two handfuls of water to the ancestors, and an añjali was also a measure of grain, as much as both hands can hold. Indian name lists give Anjali as "offering" or "divine offering", which follows naturally from these senses. Although the Sanskrit noun is masculine, the name is given to girls.
Source: Monier-Williams, Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899), p. 11 · entry añjali · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Monier-Williams, añjali, p. 11
Fits your syllable
First sound अ
Krittika nakshatra, pada 1 · Mesh rashi
North Indian table. Tables vary by region and family tradition, so confirm with your priest.
Spellings
Anjali · Anjalee · Anjli