Girl · Sanskrit · Hindu
Hema
हेमाSay it HAY-maa
- Meaning
- Gold; also a handsome woman Monier-Williams, p. 1305
- Say it
- HAY-maa
- Written
- हेमा
- Other spellings
- Hemaa
- First sound
- हे · Kark rashi
Hema
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Hema meaning
Hema (हेमा) is a Hindu girl's name of Sanskrit origin. By its first sound, हे, it is a Kark rashi name (Pushya nakshatra) in the North Indian table.
Gold; also a handsome woman
Hema (हेमा) takes its meaning from Sanskrit hema, "gold". Monier-Williams gives hema as the form heman takes at the start of compounds, as in hemāṅga, "golden-limbed", and marks the plain "gold" sense as known from the lexicographers. The feminine hemā is listed separately as "a handsome woman" and as the name of an Apsaras and of a river. Baby-name lists agree on "gold" or "golden", matching the dictionary. Hema also begins many longer names, such as Hemalata, "golden creeper", and Hemangi. Its best-known bearer is Hema Malini, the actor, Bharatanatyam dancer and politician who became one of the biggest stars of Hindi cinema in the 1970s, remembered above all for Sholay and Seeta Aur Geeta.
Source: Monier-Williams, Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899), p. 1305 · entry hema · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Monier-Williams, hema and hemā, p. 1305 · Britannica, Hema Malini
Famous namesakes
- Hema Malini, Hindi film actor and Bharatanatyam dancer
Fits your syllable
First sound हे
Pushya nakshatra, pada 2 · Kark rashi
North Indian table. Tables vary by region and family tradition, so confirm with your priest.
Spellings
Hema · Hemaa