Anupam Mittal rejects tradition for daughter's middle name: 'You are not defined by men'

Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal shared a thought-provoking post on LinkedIn about his daughter, sharing that he decided to give her a unique middle name that promotes gender equality.

Deviating from traditional Indian naming customs, Mittal said instead of using her father's name as a middle name to be later replaced by her husband's name, his family decided to give their daughter Alyssa a unique middle name - Anantara.

"It's a quiet tradition. So quiet, in fact, that most don’t question it. But we did. And instead of Alyssa Anupam, we named her Alyssa Anantara. "Anantara” - which means limitless. Rooted in Ananta, another name for Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. It’s a small thing. A name. But also…not so small," he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Check out the full post here:

He added that their decision was to remove any pressure or unfair expectations from her daughter to carry forward a legacy or be defined by the men in her life.

"In a world where women are still introduced as someone's daughter, someone's wife, someone's mother...we just wanted her to start as herself. This wasn't a grand gesture. It won't change the world. But for us, it felt like the right place to begin. A quiet way to say -We believe in equality. In her, In her choices, In her future! And that felt enough," he said in the post.

Mittal's post was praised by many online who said he inspired them to rethink traditional naming conventions, especially when it comes to women.

"As a woman and also a mother of a daughter, this moved me deeply-"You are not defined by the men in your life." Thank you, Anupam Mittal for that bold conscious step," wrote one of them.

Another said, "Parents like you set the gold standard for nurturing daughters—not by imposing societal expectations, but by empowering them to forge their own paths."