My Name

My name is Rishikesh. It is pronounced as ‘Rish-ee-kaysh’. I’m not sure why my mother named me like that, and I think she also has no idea. It’s not really a unique name if you’re from India. In fact, there’s a place in India called Rishikesh, lying on the foothills of the Himalayas, on the banks of the Ganges. The place is called the Yoga capital of the world and is often a destination for people seeking spirituality (The Beatles visited the place), but I do not have any interest or affiliation to either of those.

However, I have visited the place, stayed there for a few months, and made some amazing friends during my backpacking trip in 2021. It was a good conversation starter while I was there. How often do we go to places that have the same name as us? I remember it being a cool thing when I used to check in to hostels as the people at the reception would ask again for my name or be surprised when they looked at my ID card. I have this fun memory of an evening on the famous Laxman Jhula Ghat in Rishikesh, where artists come and jam in the evening. When a girl asked for my name, she couldn’t believe it, and I had to show her my ID card to make her believe.

People often call me ‘Rishi’ (‘Rish-eee’), a short version of my name, and I don’t mind that. I feel like non-Indian speakers find my name challenging and ‘Rishi’ is often easier to pronounce. While I was working in hospitality in Edinburgh, my Russian supervisor used to call me ‘Raashi’.

This page serves as a place where I describe my name in different languages. While I was searching for my name in different languages, I found this page by Thejesh GN , who has also done the same. I’ve included most languages and used AI and Google Translate for transliterating my name. The verified column next to my name indicates whether the name has been verified by a native speaker. I’ve already verified the same for English, Malayalam, Hindi, and Tamil, the languages spoken by me and my wife. In case you find any mistakes in the transliteration, feel free to comment or contact me. If your language is not listed, I would like to add it, with a backlink to your blog. So feel free to reach out. I have also enabled comments on this page for feedback.

Inspired by Thejesh GN .