Boy · Sanskrit · Hindu
Shanmukh
षण्मुखSay it shun-MUKH
- Meaning
- Six-faced; a name of Skanda (Kartikeya) Monier-Williams, p. 1109
- Say it
- shun-MUKH
- Written
- षण्मुख
- Other spellings
- Shanmukha
- First sound
- ष · Kanya rashi
Shanmukh
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Shanmukh meaning
Shanmukh (षण्मुख) is a Hindu boy's name of Sanskrit origin. By its first sound, ष, it is a Kanya rashi name (Hasta nakshatra) in the North Indian table.
Six-faced; a name of Skanda (Kartikeya)
Shanmukh (षण्मुख) is the Sanskrit ṣaṇ-mukha, from ṣaṣ, "six", and mukha, "face". Monier-Williams gives it as a name of Skanda or Kārttikeya, the war god and son of Śiva, and as an adjective applied to Śiva himself. The story behind the epithet is that the infant Skanda grew six heads so that he could be nursed by all six Kṛttikās, the Pleiades who reared him, which is also why he is called Kārttikeya. In South India he is worshipped as Murugan or Subrahmaṇya, and sculpture shows him with six heads or one, holding a spear and riding a peacock. The name begins with the retroflex ṣ, and Shanmugam is the usual Tamil form.
Source: Monier-Williams, Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899), p. 1109 · entry ṣaṇ-mukha · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Monier-Williams, ṣaṇ-mukha, p. 1109 · Britannica, Skanda
Famous namesakes
- Kartikeya (Murugan), the six-faced son of Shiva
Fits your syllable
First sound ष
Hasta nakshatra, pada 2 · Kanya rashi
North Indian table. Tables vary by region and family tradition, so confirm with your priest.
Spellings
Shanmukh · Shanmukha