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transemacabreGot to thinking today about which Indo-European derived Indian names (ie names from languages such as Sanskrit) are cognates with other names in their related cousin languages, such as English or Russian or what-have-you. Came up with a handful but surely there are many others:
Girish and Goran
Derive from the PIE root *gworh, "mountain, mountain forest". Became giri in India, whence comes Girish. In the Slavic languages the same root became gora, as Goran. The same root gave Albanian gur, "rock", and Old Prussian garian, "tree". The English term, "mountain", derives from PIE ?*men, "project, stick out", which also gave Welsh mynydd, "mountain", and Latin mons, "mountain".
Devdan and Theodore
Dev- and Theo- come from the same PIE root *deiwos, "god". Compare the Indian dev to Avestan daeva and Old Church Slavonic diva, both meaning "demon". This pair (dev/theo) can also get other cognates such as Devi and Thea. The second element comes from PIE *deh, "to give", which spawned Sanskrit dadami, danam and Greek didomi, doron. This pair of names mean "Gift of God".
Eugene/Eugenia and Sujana
PIE *gehn is the root of Greek genos, "race, kind", and the Vedic janas, "race clan". Their other common element is PIE *esu, "good, noble, excellent", which in Greek became eu and in Sanskrit su. In Hittite we find the same root as assu. So Eugenia and Sujana both mean "Well-born, nobly-born".
Raja and Rex
Both appear to come from PIE *hreg, "straightens, ruler." Their feminine versions, Rani and Regina, respectively, are also cognates. What's sort of weird is that the same root gives us various words for "right, correct, straight, lawful", etc., that sort of thing, such as Irish diriug, "straight". We might think of an ancient PIE king as the man who 'makes things right', so to speak.
Madhukar and Melissa
While not perfect cognates, they come from the PIE *medhu, "honey, mead." In Greek this root transformed into meli, from whence comes Melissa. The Hittite milit, "honey", is very similar. The Indian madhu can be compared to the Slavic medvedi, "honey-eaters", which means bear.
Girish and Goran
Derive from the PIE root *gworh, "mountain, mountain forest". Became giri in India, whence comes Girish. In the Slavic languages the same root became gora, as Goran. The same root gave Albanian gur, "rock", and Old Prussian garian, "tree". The English term, "mountain", derives from PIE ?*men, "project, stick out", which also gave Welsh mynydd, "mountain", and Latin mons, "mountain".
Devdan and Theodore
Dev- and Theo- come from the same PIE root *deiwos, "god". Compare the Indian dev to Avestan daeva and Old Church Slavonic diva, both meaning "demon". This pair (dev/theo) can also get other cognates such as Devi and Thea. The second element comes from PIE *deh, "to give", which spawned Sanskrit dadami, danam and Greek didomi, doron. This pair of names mean "Gift of God".
Eugene/Eugenia and Sujana
PIE *gehn is the root of Greek genos, "race, kind", and the Vedic janas, "race clan". Their other common element is PIE *esu, "good, noble, excellent", which in Greek became eu and in Sanskrit su. In Hittite we find the same root as assu. So Eugenia and Sujana both mean "Well-born, nobly-born".
Raja and Rex
Both appear to come from PIE *hreg, "straightens, ruler." Their feminine versions, Rani and Regina, respectively, are also cognates. What's sort of weird is that the same root gives us various words for "right, correct, straight, lawful", etc., that sort of thing, such as Irish diriug, "straight". We might think of an ancient PIE king as the man who 'makes things right', so to speak.
Madhukar and Melissa
While not perfect cognates, they come from the PIE *medhu, "honey, mead." In Greek this root transformed into meli, from whence comes Melissa. The Hittite milit, "honey", is very similar. The Indian madhu can be compared to the Slavic medvedi, "honey-eaters", which means bear.
