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Summary of Question:	Re: Comment On Last Name Of Singh Post
Category:	Other
Date Posted:	Thursday, 5/27/2004 8:40 PM MDT

Sat Nam.

I'm the one who posted on having chosen the Singh surname as a female Sikh.

Please refer to the earlier post. I chose Singh to comply with the marriage laws of New York; the local Sikh community knows me as Bahadur Kaur.

I understand what was meant when the name Kaur was given for us ladies. It is a term of royalty, I am told, and that's cool. But I have heard the word Singhni used for ladies too; and consider the lion in the wild. If Singh is Lion then reason tells me Singhni is Lioness; in wild nature, it is the Lioness who rules and provides for the pride, and not the lazy papa lion who lies about in the shade!

My father-in-law is Indian and told me that Kaur is of Persian derivation, and can mean either lioness or princess. Can any of you good moderators give me a lesson in rudimentary Panjabi here?

Blessed be,

Elizabeth
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Sat Siri AKaal. Your father-in-law is better suited to this issue than the moderators, Elizabeth, since our punjabi is rudimentary at best. Guru Gobind Singh was well-versed in and wrote poetry in Persian. It is he that gave us the name of Kaur, so I believe your father-in-law is correct. I had not heard of the lionness meaning of kaur, only the princess meaning.

That said, I will not know you are female if you do not use "Kaur" with Bahadur, seems to me that your full Sikh/married name is Bahadur Kaur Singh. You are correct that Singhni is lionness, and that indeed, the lionness does all the action in the pride! I have seen this word used often on this site in reference to our Sikh sisters.
guru ang sang,
-DKK