What to name your kid
...If you want him or her to be a movie star.
An international website recently, after an exhaustive study of names of film actors of the past 20 years, has come up with a guide to choose names for newborns that have the best odds of becoming successful film stars. According to the site, the names Christopher and Jennifer held the key, while J proved to be the most popular letter for both actors and actresses in Hollywood.
We thought why not do a similar research here and find out the ‘lucky’ names or alphabets. Bollywood’s fixation with names is well-known, so it is more relevant here. Our screen idols are known to add and drop alphabets from their name spelling as per numerology, to give them that little edge. And all that for a good reason too… While there is no denying that talent always shines, we cannot rule out Lady Luck, astrology and numerelogy etc.
This is what emerged: Some names and alphabets do have an edge over the others. The letters A (Amitabh, Akshay, Ajay and Anil) and K (Kapoor, Khan and Kumar) seems to work for celebrities. So naming your child with these alphabets may have an added advantage. What are the most conducive names to consider if you want your child to be a superstar someday? Read on to find out…
The K clanA look at the names of the top most stars right since the 1940s reveals that while names are rarely ever repeated (except for Sanjay: Dutt, Kapoor, Suri, Khan Bhansali etc) the surnames Kapoor, Khan, Kumar are a permanent feature. Kumar has always been popular — Dilip, Rajender, Manoj, Pradeep, Raaj, Kishore and Akshay. Kapoor was almost dynastical until now — Prithviraj, Raj, Shashi, Rishi, Randhir, Shahid, Ranbir, Arjun, Anil, Sonam, Aditya Roy and Shraddha. Khans have all been part of the industry right from the 60s — Feroz, Sanjay, Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman, Saif, and Fardeen. Every decade of the film industry has seen stars with one of these surnames. Blame it on the high Punjabi influx, but Chopra is yet another surname that seems to be a favoured one. Don’t want to change your child’s last name? Remember a guy called Harikrishna Giri Goswami became Manoj Kumar. Haribhai Jarivala became Sanjeev Kumar. Rajeev Bhatia changed his name to Akshay Kumar and stardom chased them all.
A and S are the luckiest!When it comes to alphabets, names starting from A and S are extremely popular. Take a look at the current crop of ruling stars. Right from the senior most brigade to the newest hearththrobs...
Aishwarya Rai BachchanAmitabh BachchanAbhishek BachchanAkshay KumarAamir KhanAnil KapoorArjun KapoorArjun RampalAnushka SharmaAyushmann KhurranaAjay DevgnAshok KumarAmol PalekarAkshaye KhannaAmeesha PatelAmrish PuriAmrita SinghAsha ParekhAsinAditya Roy KapurAlia BhattAmjad KhanAnupam KherAnu KapoorAnnu MalikA R Rahman
The favoured lettersSaira BanuSarikaSharmila TagoreSonali BendreSohail KhanSmita PatilShabana AzmiShah Rukh KhanSuniel ShettyShilpa ShettySalman KhanSonakshi SinhaShatrughan SinhaSaif Ali KhanSonam KapoorSiddharth Roy KapoorSrideviSunil DuttSanjay DuttSanjeev KumarSunny DeolShilpa ShettySanjay KhanSushmita SenSidharth MalhotraShilpa ShirodkarSunny LeoneShraddha KapoorSonu SoodSushant Singh RajputShruti HaasanShekhar Kapur
Actors who changed namesDilip Kumar – Yusuf KhanDev Anand – Devdutt AnandMadhubala – Mumtaz BegumGuru Dutt — Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar PadukoneMeenakumari — Mahjabeen BanoShammi Kapoor – Shamsher Raj KapoorShashi Kapoor – Balbir Raj KapoorRajesh Khanna – Jatin KhannaDharmendra – Dharam Singh DeolJeetendra – Ravi KapoorSanjeev Kumar – Haribhai JarivalaRekha – Bhanurekha GanesanRajinikanth – Shivaji Rao GaekwadGovinda – Govind Arun AhujaMahima Chaudhary – RituKatrina Kaif – Katrina TurquotteMallika Sherawat — Reema Lamba