Manu

Classical Sanskrit origin

मनु (manu): the Man par excellence or the representative man and father of the human race.

Source: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), a public-domain scholarly reference — not every popular name today traces to a classical dictionary entry, so this section only appears where a verified match exists.

In the epics

Manu appears in the Rāmāyaṇa as a king: Lord in krita yuga who held the rod of chastisement.

Source: Drimigo Scripture KG (CC BY 4.0). Many characters share a name across the epics — this is one notable figure who bore it, not a claim about the name's only meaning.

Traditional associations

In Hindu tradition, names are sometimes chosen by the baby's rashi (moon sign) or nakshatra (birth star). This is cultural tradition, not a rule. Traditional rashi (by first letter, as commonly listed in this corpus) — not a personalized astrological reading, and not the same as the traditional first-syllable (akshara) method some families use.

• Rashi: Mithun
• Nakshatra: Mrigashira
• More names starting with M

Names with a similar meaning

Names that share a word with “the Man par excellence or the representative man and father of the human race”. Meanings are the common reading rather than a ruling — the same name is often glossed differently by different sources.

• Manavjit — Human victory, triumph of humanity
• Rushab — First Jain Tirthankara; excellence
• Nanma — Goodness, virtue, excellence
• Varleen — Absorbed in excellence, immersed in virtue
• Rishabh — the best or most excellent of any kind or race
• Vipul — n. large, extensive, wide, great, thick, long (also of time), abundant, numerous, important, loud (as a noise), noble (as a race)

More boys' names of Sanskrit / Vedic origin

• Atharv — Meanings families give: Lord Ganesha, knowledge; The fourth Veda, knower of the Atharva Veda; Knowledge, first Veda
• Varun — Meanings families give: Lord of the water; God of water, the Vedic deity of oceans and rains; God of water, sea; Water god, ocean, rain
• Rishi — Meanings families give: Sage, wise one; Sage, a holy seer who perceives divine truth; Sage, seer, enlightened one; Ancient sage, wise one
• Kashyap — Meanings families give: A sage, seer; Ancient sage, tortoise, the progenitor of creation

Other names under Mithun rashi

• Diya — Meanings families give: Lamp, light; Lamp, divine light
• Krish — Meanings families give: Lord Krishna; Short form of Krishna, dark, attractive
• Yash — Meanings families give: Glory, fame; Fame, glory, success, celebrity; Fame, glory, success; Success, glory, fame
• Kavya — a poem, poetical composition with a coherent plot by a single author (opposed to an Itihāsa)
• Dev — God, divine being
• Jiya — Meanings families give: Sweetheart, piece of heart; Heart, sweetheart

Traditional association, recorded because families use it when choosing — see all Mithun names.

Where this comes from

Manu's etymology is verified against Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899). Its meaning comes from our compiled name corpus, the least-sourced dataset on this site — we say so plainly on Sources & methodology rather than implying an authority we cannot name.