Pankaj

Pankaj
Gender	male
Origin
Meaning	lotus flower
Region of origin	India, Nepal

Pankaj is a Hindu given name, common in Nepal and India. It has its roots in the Sanskrit word paṅkaja which refers to the lotus flower. The word is a compound of paṅka 'mud' and the suffix -ja 'born from, growing in'.^[1] The associated symbolism is of the lotus that is born in mud and blossoms after arising from mud. The lotus flower is also the national flower of India and is considered to be a symbol of Buddhist teaching (cf. Nalanda).

Notable people with the name

• Pankaj Advani, an Indian and World Champion snooker and billiards player
• Pankaj Bhatia, an Indian entrepreneur and owner of K.P. Groups
• Pankaj Choudhary, an Indian politician of a party.
• Pankaj Dharmani, an Indian cricket player
• Pankaj Gupta, an Indian sports administrators and hockey manager
• Pankaj Kalita, an Indian author
• Pankaj Kapur, a Bollywood actor.
• Pankaj Manubhai Zaveri, an Indian cricketer
• Pankaj Mishra, an Indian writer
• Pankaj Mullick, a Bengali Indian music director
• Pankaja Munde, an Indian politician
• Pankaj Oswal, the former chairman and managing director of Burrup Holdings Limited
• Pankaj Patel, the current chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare
• Pankaj Rag, current director of the Film and Television Institute of India
• Pankaj Roy, an Indian cricket player
• Pankaj Sharma, an associate professor in clinical neurology at Imperial Collegem
• Pankaj Singh, an Indian cricket player
• Pankaj Udhas, an Indian Ghazal singer

References and notes

1. This is a shortened form of the root jan- 'to live', which is cognate with Pashto -zai and Persian -zad.