Poona as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Poona

What is the meaning of the name Poona ?

The baby name Poona is a Unisex name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈpuːnə/ (POO-nuh).

Poona is Indian in Origin.

Poona is the anglicized colonial-era form of Pune, a major city in Maharashtra, India. It derives from the Sanskrit punya, “merit” or “virtue,” via compounds such as Punya-nagari (“city of virtue”) and Punyapura. As a given name, Poona functions as a toponymic choice that evokes goodness, righteousness, and auspicious merit, and is used for any gender.

Personal-name use is rare, but it appears among Anglo-Indian families and in modern diaspora communities that favor place-inspired names; it also shows up in 19th–20th century British and military records as a middle name honoring ties to the city. Variants and related forms include Pune (the modern toponym), Poonah (older British spelling), and Puna. Diminutives are uncommon, and spellings vary by era. The name’s resonance is cultural-historical rather than sectarian, keeping it broadly accessible while retaining an Indian linguistic core.

⚙ Poona is a rare find. There are only 50 recorded uses of it in our data, from 14 countries.