Names

I thought it might be good to tell you all of the names of my kids just so you could know what Nepali names are like. Memorizing them at first was beastly hard (and this was when all of the 116 students all looked exactly the same), but once my ear got used to the sound of the language and the soft-spoken manner in which Nepali children usually introduce themselves, I found their names to be charming. The pronunciation is pretty simple: vowels are like Spanish vowels, "h" is usually not pronounced, "j" is like a "z" especially at the end of names, but it sounds more like a soft j + "zh" at the beginning and middle of names.


Class 4 boys: Chandeshwar, Roshan, Binod, Udish, Prayush, Roshan, Biki, Sagar, Ujit; Class 4 girls: Mamata, Jessica, Rojina, Rashila, Shamjana, Urusha, Gita, Mamata, Rojee, Sheruta


Class 5 boys: Shiva, Imran, Anish, Sujan, Madhav, Roshan, Binesh, Rajendra, Manil, Gopal; Class 5 girls: Juna, Binita, Ramita, Manisha, Sarishma, Sanu, Sapana, Sunita, Saru



Class 6 boys: Saroj, Balram, Suraj, Saroj, Susan, Sanjip, Buddha, Bibek, Suman, Krishna, Buddha, Nigam, Anoj; Class 6 girls: Rabina, Nabina, Sangita, Sajana, Rishma, Sonu, Saraswati, Asmita, Roshni



Class 7 boys: Suman, Sunil, Sushan, Rajan, Dhiraj, Susan, Sujan, Sudarshan, Ashish, Manoj; Class 7 girls: Neha, Rashmi, Sarala Alina, Sharmila, Sabitri, Muskan, Kalpana, Salina, Sabina, Ribika, Anu, Aman, Saru, Rakshya, Chanduka, Nisha, Rabina, Puja



Class 8 boys: Rohit, Raju, Powan, Saroj, Santos, Sulove, "Bicycle" (the only one whose real name I can't remember!); Class 8 girls: Usha, Tara, Sajani, Sabina, Puja, Sujata, Shila, Sachita, Sujina, Jamuna


Class 9-10 boys: Mahesh, Kuber, Ranjan, Suman, Gaurav, Ashish, Ramesh, Umesh, Sanish; Class 9 girls: Ranju, Shanti, Shamjhana, Jharana, Sarita; Class 10 girls: Shree Devi, Sapana, Tina, Kanchan, Sujita, Bimala, Rabina