Boy · Sanskrit · Hindu
Keshav
केशवSay it KAY-shuv
- Meaning
- Having long or handsome hair; a name of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa Monier-Williams, p. 310
- Say it
- KAY-shuv
- Written
- केशव
- Other spellings
- Keshava, Kesav, Kesava
- First sound
- के · Mithun rashi
Keshav
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Keshav meaning
Keshav (केशव) is a Hindu boy's name of Sanskrit origin. By its first sound, के, it is a Mithun rashi name (Punarvasu nakshatra) in the North Indian table.
Having long or handsome hair; a name of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa
Keshav (केशव) is Sanskrit keśava, from keśa, hair. Monier-Williams gives it first as an adjective, 'having long or much or handsome hair', found as early as the Atharvaveda, and then as a name of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa in the Mahābhārata, the Harivaṃśa and the Rāmāyaṇa. From that divine name it also became a name of the month Mārgaśīrṣa. Puranic tradition offers a second explanation, that Kṛṣṇa earned the name by slaying the demon Keśin. Name lists usually give 'one with beautiful hair', which follows the dictionary. Among notable bearers is the poet Keśavdās of Orchha, whose Rasikapriyā, composed in 1591, became a model for later Hindi love poetry.
In Hindu tradition this is a name of Krishna.
Source: Monier-Williams, Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899), p. 310 · entry keśava · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Monier-Williams, keśava, p. 310 · Wisdom Library, Kesava (Puranic senses) · LACMA, folio from Keshavadasa's Rasikapriya
Famous namesakes
- Keshavdas, the Hindi poet of the Rasikapriya
Fits your syllable
First sound के
Punarvasu nakshatra, pada 1 · Mithun rashi
North Indian table. Tables vary by region and family tradition, so confirm with your priest.
Spellings
Keshav · Keshava · Kesav · Kesava