Write about your first name: Are you named after someone or something? Are there any stories or associations attached to it? If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?
I was almost named Sheffin instead of Roshan. My mom told me that she & my dad almost gave me that name just to match it with my sister Sherine. However just after I was born, a nurse who my mom befriended suggested ‘Roshan’ instead, stating that I looked like a ‘Roshan’! I have no idea what she meant by that but I am certainly grateful for her suggestion and that my parents decided to take it. Even thought for a few years I remember that I didn’t like my name, thinking it wasn’t ‘grand’ enough, I love it now.
Just a point about the pronunciation. North Indians and central Indians pronounce it making the “Ro” sound separate from the “shan” sound. It kinda sounds like “Ro~shun”! I don’t really like this pronunciation. I notice North Americans pronounce my name as “Ro-shaan”, more emphasis on the “shan”.
How is it pronounced you ask? Simple – tack an “R” in front of the word “ocean” and pronounce it in the same way. Rocean. Simple and sweet! :P
I did a check on my name in Wikipedia and this is what they threw me :
- Roshan could refer to the prime minister of Turkey.
- Roshan means “light” in Persian.
- A very popular name in India
- A literal meaning of shining or glowing
- Roshan, a GSM service provider in Afghanistan
- Roshan, a legendary Bollywood music composer
- Rajesh Roshan, a Bollywood music composer and son of the above music composer
- Rakesh Roshan, a Bollywood actor and movie director and another son of music director Roshan
- Hrithik Roshan, a Bollywood actor, son of Rakesh Roshan
- Roshan Seth, an Indian actor
- Roshan Mahanama, a Sri Lankan cricketer
- Roshan Soni, a Computer Engineer from Chicago, IL
- Roshan – the strongest neutral creep in the popular Warcraft III: Frozen Throne map, Defense of the Ancients: Allstars
- Roshan – Warder to Samitsu Tamagowa of the Yellow Ajah from the popular Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
- Roshan was the name of a vassal state of Shighnan in nineteenth century Afghanistan.