Shalom.
No seriously, Shalom.
I think it is becoming a trend. Used by two people on different sides of the lifestyle spectrum, Shalom has that calm-before-the-storm moment where two people have it used and you think it's an interesting coincidence. Then BAM, it's everywhere. So far it is used as a middle name, but as we all know, middle names are a gateway drug to first names. Before Shalom becomes a household name, I would like to reccomend we have a look at Shalom's Indian cousin: Shanti.
They are creepily similar. They both have two syllables, start with a soft Sh like a librarian gently shushing a child, and they both mean "peace".Shanti is a lot less popular, but given Shalom's presence in nameworld, Shanti definitely has a chance to shine. It's also a nice way to spruce up a popular, fussy, or boring name. Here are some ideas for using Shanti:
Margaret Shanti
Shanti Isabelle
Agatha Shanti
River Shanti
Shanti Violet
Novella Shanti
Zia Shanti
No matter what version of Shanti is used, it already comes with a song that you can sing and dance to. If you love Bollywood, prepare to be delighted.
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Shanti is alive and well in Los Angeles -- I know two under 5!
ReplyDeleteI like Shanti a lot more than I like Shalom, but it does remind me of shandy a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI have an Indian friend who loves Om Shanti Om! It's a film and we're actually in agreement about Dhoom Taana being our favourite song :)
ReplyDeleteI actually recently completed a crossword where the clue was seaman's song - shanty.