Why a blog for Pakistani names

Some one came to my chaikhanah (pakistani tea house) through an internet search for peoples names in Pakistan. The bright spark that I am, I decided to blog about it here. Here is the idea. A blog about Pakistani names. It’ll mostly be a list. But as we go along we’ll get into the finer points of Pakistani names. In the header are the two lists. One is for boys names, and the other is for girls. Incase a name is used for either gender, please put it up in both. This being a list, I’ll need help from my family and friends, but also from readers. Please contribute, if you don’t see a name up there.

I don’t know why the person had come there searching for Pakistani names. Was it someone looking for baby names, was it someone inquisitive about my country and its people. Whatever the reason, this blog is dedicated to you, anonynous web surfer. 

Oh on a final note, lets start with my name. I am Ali Raza Khan. Ali is a popular Islamic/Arabic name for boys. In the post Islamic context it is used with deferrance to Ali the cousin and son-in-law of prophet Mohammed. Raza is another Islamic name. It is also written as Reza in persian cultures. Khan is a very common name in Pakistan, and among the muslims of the India. It denotes a connection to the north western areas of Pakistan and to the Pathan/Pakhtoon/Pashtun ethnic group. I however, am not from that group. I am from Punjab and my ancestors were Baloch who settled in Punjab a few centuries ago after coming here along with the Baloch general Mir Chakar Khan.

Oh a final note: I will try my best to put the names in alphabetical order as posts as we go along. Lacking database support here on the blog, I’ll entertain other brightspark ideas on the structure and format of presentation here. 

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