Rashi by Name: The Complete First-Letter Table and Why It Can Differ from Your Birth Rashi
Take the first sound of your name as spoken and find it in the 12-row syllable table; that row is your naam-rashi. It can differ from your birth rashi, the Moon sign at birth, and that is normal.
To find your rashi (zodiac sign) from your name, take the first sound of your name as it is actually spoken and look it up in the table below. "Chetan" starts with "Che", which sits in Mesh (Aries); "Sonam" starts with "So", which sits in Kumbh (Aquarius). This is your naam-rashi, or name sign. It can differ from your birth rashi, the sign the Moon was in when you were born, and that difference is completely normal.
The complete first-letter rashi table
This is the traditional nakshatra-syllable system, the same one a panchang (Hindu almanac) uses to give a newborn its naming syllable. Each rashi holds nine syllables, 108 in all. Find the syllable your name begins with; the rashi in that row is your naam-rashi.
| Rashi | First syllables (Devanagari) | In Roman letters | Example names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesh (Aries) | चू चे चो ला ली लू ले लो अ | Chu, Che, Cho, La, Li, Lu, Le, Lo, A | Chetan, Lokesh, Amit |
| Vrishabh (Taurus) | ई उ ए ओ वा वी वू वे वो | Ee, U, E, O, Va, Vi, Vu, Ve, Vo | Isha, Uma, Vani |
| Mithun (Gemini) | का की कू घ ङ छ के को हा | Ka, Ki, Ku, Gha, Nga, Chha, Ke, Ko, Ha | Kajal, Keshav, Hardik |
| Kark (Cancer) | ही हू हे हो डा डी डू डे डो | Hi, Hu, He, Ho, Da, Di, Du, De, Do (hard D) | Heena, Hemant, Dolly |
| Simha (Leo) | मा मी मू मे मो टा टी टू टे | Ma, Mi, Mu, Me, Mo, Ta, Ti, Tu, Te (hard T) | Maya, Mohan, Tina |
| Kanya (Virgo) | टो पा पी पू ष ण ठ पे पो | To (hard T), Pa, Pi, Pu, Sha, Na, Tha (hard), Pe, Po | Parul, Pooja, Piyush |
| Tula (Libra) | रा री रू रे रो ता ती तू ते | Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro, Ta, Ti, Tu, Te (soft T) | Rahul, Rohit, Tara |
| Vrishchik (Scorpio) | तो ना नी नू ने नो या यी यू | To (soft T), Na, Ni, Nu, Ne, No, Ya, Yi, Yu | Neha, Neeraj, Yamini |
| Dhanu (Sagittarius) | ये यो भा भी भू धा फा ढा भे | Ye, Yo, Bha, Bhi, Bhu, Dha, Pha, Dha (hard), Bhe | Yogesh, Bhavna, Dhara |
| Makar (Capricorn) | भो जा जी खी खू खे खो गा गी | Bho, Ja, Ji, Khi, Khu, Khe, Kho, Ga, Gi | Janki, Gayatri, Bhola |
| Kumbh (Aquarius) | गू गे गो सा सी सू से सो दा | Gu, Ge, Go, Sa, Si, Su, Se, So, Da (soft D) | Govind, Sagar, Sonam |
| Meen (Pisces) | दी दू थ झ ञ दे दो चा ची | Di, Du, Tha (soft), Jha, Nya, De, Do, Cha, Chi (soft D) | Deepak, Devesh, Charu |
Three things to keep in mind while reading the table
- Go by sound, not spelling. The first syllable is whatever you hear first when the name is said aloud in Hindi.
- Short and long vowels count as one tile. In common practice "Ki" and "Kee", "Khu" and "Khoo", "A" and "Aa" are read as the same syllable. So "Kavita" (Ka) goes to Mithun and "Khushi" (Khu) goes to Makar.
- Hard and soft T and D are different rows. Hard means the tongue curls back, as in "Tina" or "Dolly"; soft means the tongue touches the teeth, as in "Tara" or "Deepak". So Tina is Simha but Tara is Tula; Dolly is Kark but Deepak is Meen. This split comes straight from the Devanagari letters, so do not merge them.
Where do these syllables come from? Nakshatras and padas
The table is really a nakshatra table folded into twelve rows. A nakshatra is a lunar mansion: one of the 27 equal segments of the Moon's path across the sky. Each nakshatra is divided into four equal quarters called padas. 27 nakshatras × 4 padas = 108 padas, and tradition assigns one syllable to each pada. Those 108 syllables are what you see above.
A rashi spans two and a quarter nakshatras, which is exactly nine padas. That is why every row holds nine syllables. The definition of naam-rashi follows from this: your name begins with some pada's syllable, that pada falls inside a rashi, and that rashi is your name sign.
In the older custom a name was tied to the nakshatra rather than the rashi, because tradition holds that each nakshatra carries its own character. Reading about Rohini nakshatra's traits and nature gives a feel for why so much weight was placed on the nakshatra.
Why can your naam-rashi differ from your birth rashi?
Your birth rashi, also called chandra rashi or Moon sign, is the sign the Moon actually occupied at the moment you were born. It is calculated from your date, time and place of birth. Your naam-rashi comes only from the first syllable of your name. Different methods, so the answers can differ.
In the old custom the two were the same thing. At the naamkaran (naming ceremony) the priest read the child's birth nakshatra and pada, announced its syllable, and the parents chose a name beginning with that syllable. For a name given that way, name sign and Moon sign match by design, because the name was derived from the Moon's position. Today most names are chosen for meaning, sound or family tradition, so the two signs often differ, and nothing has gone wrong.
One more layer. The birth rashi is worked out on the sidereal zodiac, which uses a correction called ayanamsa. That is why a Vedic Moon sign also often differs from the Western sun sign in a newspaper column. So one person can have three "signs", a name sign, a Moon sign and a sun sign, and each answers a different question.
So which one should you use?
In Jyotish (Vedic astrology) tradition, anything that rests on the birth chart uses the birth rashi, because it comes from the Moon's real position. The naam-rashi is a practical stand-in: for people who do not know their birth time, or who only want to read a daily horoscope. If you know your birth time, reading by birth rashi is the more accurate choice.
English names, nicknames and changed names: which first letter?
English or other-language names
Ignore the spelling and take the sound that comes first when the name is said in Hindi. "Kevin" begins with "Ke", so Mithun. "Neil" begins with "Ni", so Vrishchik. "Emma" begins with "E", so Vrishabh. "Sam" and "Steve" both begin with "Sa", so Kumbh. "Aryan" begins with "Aa", which sits with "A" in Mesh.
Nicknames and pet names
By tradition the naamkaran name is the main one, because it was the name tied to the nakshatra. But people who do not know their naamkaran name, or who are known to everyone by a nickname, often read by that instead, and this too is common practice. If the two give different signs, there is no need to puzzle over it; check your birth rashi.
Name changed after marriage or legally
New name, new naam-rashi. This is the built-in limit of the method: a name can change, but where the Moon stood at your birth never does. The birth rashi is fixed; the name sign is a convenience.
Frequently asked questions about rashi by name
Are naam-rashi and birth rashi the same thing?
No. Naam-rashi comes from the first syllable of your name; birth rashi comes from the Moon's actual position at your birth. They coincide only when the name was given from the birth nakshatra's syllable.
Mine are different. Is something wrong?
Not at all. It only tells you that your name was chosen for a reason other than the nakshatra syllable, which is true of most people today.
Which rashi should I read my daily horoscope by?
By birth rashi if you know your birth time. By naam-rashi if you do not; that is its main traditional use. Remember that a horoscope speaks of tendencies, not fixed outcomes.
My first syllable is not in the table exactly. What now?
Look at the row for the same consonant (K, Kh, S and so on); in common practice the vowel length is not counted. If you are still unsure, the birth rashi is the more reliable answer.
Is this the same as my sun sign?
No. The Western sun sign is the Sun's sign on your birth date. The naam-rashi comes from a syllable and the Vedic birth rashi from the Moon. All three can differ, and each has its own use.
The rashi picker in AstroVedansh's daily rashifal shows these same syllable tiles, so anyone who does not remember their sign's name can choose it from the first letter of their name.