She’s an exotic obscurity that could mean moonlight, or maybe hello.
Thanks to Lou for suggesting Nishma as our Baby Name of the Day.
One of two things happen before I agree to write about a name.
More often than not, I recognize the name and immediately have a hunch about how I’ll write the post. But sometimes you stump me, and I set off to Google the name, searching ancestry.com or Facebook or Wikipedia to confirm that it is a name with some history of use.
Then there are those other times – the times when I think I recognize the name, but I’m wrong.
Nishma sounded instantly familiar, thanks to Nisha, a Subcontinent staple. Nisha comes from the Sanskrit and Hindi word for night, and like Priya, I’ve often wondered if parents without Indian heritage might consider her. After all, she sounds something like former Top 100 choice Alicia.
I expected to find Nishma just as easily. Not so.
In fact, I could barely find her. Iraqi journalist and human rights activitst William Warda has two daughters, Shlama and Nishma. And there she is, worn by real women on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter … Two actresses and a singer wear the name, too, though they’re little known in the US.
But where did she come from?
A few sites suggest that she means moonlight, but I can’t confirm that in a dictionary. Another possibility is bright, but again, that’s tough to confirm.
What does pop up, time and time again, is a Hebrew origin for the word: מה נשמע translates roughly to “what’s up?” It’s a casual greeting, and strikes me as something like naming your daughter Shalom.
Except there’s so much more to the word.
Na’aseh V’Nishma is the phrase the Jewish people say as they accept the Torah. The phrase translates to “we will do and we will hear.” It is spoken after Moses reads the Torah aloud. There’s a Torah study organization called NISHMA.
I would keep going, assuming that there was some link between the Hebrew term and the given name. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Nisha and the related Nishi were given to a few dozen girls in the US last year, but they’re clearly Indian names.
My best guess is that Nishma is, indeed, an Indian name of relatively recent coinage, and one that has origins that I can’t quite uncover without a working knowledge of Hindi.
So, I turn to you: anyone know a Nishma?
Hey my name is Nishma jain and I have been looking for its meaning since years. Would be great to know it now and I was thrilled as I was reading ahead to find a meaning finally to it. . But so many different meanings and origins have left me unsure again.
Hi i am Nishma Cherian, doing my mba. My name was picked out by my father, he said it was from a arabic word but cant say for sure. One of my teachers who knew arabic said my name has arabic origins. Though i dont know the correct meaning for my name in arabic but do know that it means bright in hindi.
my name is Nishma and i had read in a book “parsi and muslim baby name and its meaning” there i found my name and the meaning was “soft hearted” and realy i am….. :):)
Am nishma.. Which means bright , moonlight in Hindu and in Arabic nesma means breeze .. Thank u
my name is nishma and m from NAGPUR INDIA
My name is Nishma it means ‘a ray of light in darkness’ or ‘unique’….I was very curious. To knw Wat my name meant….I found. Out the meaning. In one of the baby name books
My name is Nishma Badgami and I’m Nepali. Once when I was in Australia a Assuie guy said my name meaning is smooth air floating… Also he said it’s an Arabian meaning but still I’m looking for correct meaning…
my name is nishama krishna,am a malayali
My name is Nishma and i have seen several different meanings. In Hinduism it means ‘Bright’. In Hebrew it the ‘breath of God’ in Arabic it means ‘Star’ (spelt in a slightly different way). Im happy in the knowledge i have a name that is universal.
When someone does find out it’s true meaning please let us know!
My name is Nishma as well. I understood Nishma being Aramaic and stood for “breath of life”. When I was young Grandfather always said it was Indian and meant “star of heaven”. I also learned Nishma was a son of Ishmael and Malchuth in the bible.
My name is Nishma and I’ve been trying to figure out what my name means too!