Shashidhara as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Shashidhara

What is the meaning of the name Shashidhara ?

The baby name Shashidhara is a Male name , 4 syllables long and is pronounced /ʃəˈʃiːd̪ʱərə/ (approx. 'SHA-shee-dha-ra').

Shashidhara is Sanskrit in Origin.

Shashidhara is a theophoric Indian given name from Sanskrit śaśi “moon; the hare-marked orb” + dhara “bearer, holder,” literally “moon-bearer.” It is a revered epithet of the god Shiva, who wears the crescent on his matted hair, and the name occurs in classical kāvya, Purāṇic hymns, and temple inscriptions. As a personal name it gained steady use across the subcontinent, especially in the south (Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam) where compound names honoring Shiva are common.

Common variants reflect regional phonology and spelling: Shashidhar, Shasidhar, Sashidhar, and Sasidhar/Sasidharan (Malayalam/Tamil forms); the scholarly IAST form is Śaśidhara. Shashi functions as a familiar short form; related cognate epithets include Chandrashekhara/Chandrasekhar (“moon-crested”). The name conveys cool luminosity, auspiciousness, and steadiness, qualities drawn from the moon’s symbolism in Indian poetics and ritual, while dhara adds a sense of support and guardianship.

⚙ Shashidhara is a rare name. There are only 41 recorded uses of it in our data, from 8 countries.