Karthik

/K-AA-R-T-IH-K/

Boy Hindu Sanskrit origin IndianTamil

Named for the month of Kartika and the star cluster Krittika — Karthik is an epithet of Murugan, the youthful war god born from six divine sparks to defeat the demon Tarakasura

See Karthik scored for your family

Quick — what every parent wants to know about Karthik:

🌟 What's Karthik's birth star? 🔢 What's its numerology? 🔊 Does it go with your names? 👶 Is Karthik right for your baby?

Yes — Karthik is a Hindu boy name of Sanskrit origin, meaning “Named for the month of Kartika and the star cluster Krittika — Karthik is an epithet of Murugan, the youthful war god born from six divine sparks to defeat the demon Tarakasura”.

The one thing this page can't tell you

How well does Karthik fit your family?

This page tells you what Karthik means. The app tells you whether it's right for your baby — scored against the names already in your family, your heritage, and your baby's exact birth star.

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NameRoot scoring a name across six signals — phonetics, numerology, birth star, culture, meaning and uniqueness

Six signals — scored for your family, not in the abstract:

🌟
Birth starAuspicious for your baby?
🔢
NumerologyDestiny 33, matched to you
🔊
PhoneticsGoes with your names?
💗
MeaningThe Courage cluster
🛕
HeritageHindu + family-tree fit
✨
UniquenessFamiliar vs rare

Meaning & origin

Karthik is a boy's name of Sanskrit origin, traditionally used in Hindu families. The name means "Named for the month of Kartika and the star cluster Krittika — Karthik is an epithet of Murugan, the youthful war god born from six divine sparks to defeat the demon Tarakasura" and belongs to the Courage cluster — names for children who will grow into bold, fearless hearts.

Common among Indian, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayali families, Karthik carries cultural weight that goes beyond its dictionary definition — it's a name with a story and a community.

What's Karthik's birth star?

In Vedic tradition, a baby's name is matched to their nakshatra (birth star) and rashi (moon sign) — usually through its first syllable. Karthik opens with “Ka.” But whether that's auspicious depends on your baby's exact date, time, and place of birth.

A name's rashi card in the NameRoot app — element, ruling planet, and quality

NameRoot works it out for you. Enter your baby's birth details and see exactly which nakshatra and rashi Karthik aligns with — and how strongly it scores.

See Karthik's birth-star reading →

What does Karthik's numerology say?

Numerology assigns each name a single-digit destiny number by summing its letter values. Different schools use different mappings — NameRoot computes both so you can see how Karthik resonates in either tradition.

Pythagorean
33
the master teacher — unconditional love in action
Chaldean
8
material mastery and executive power

Karthik's destiny number is 33 — but a number only matters in context. The app matches it to your family's own numbers for a real compatibility read. See Karthik's full reading →

Does Karthik go with your family's names?

Karthik breaks into 6 sounds: /K-AA-R-T-IH-K/. The real test isn't how it sounds alone — it's how it sounds beside the names already in your family: yours, your partner's, and any brothers or sisters. NameRoot scores that harmony, so Karthik sits naturally next to a Mum and Dad like Michael & Anna, or a big sister named Gianna — no awkward clashes, no two names that blur together. Hear Karthik beside your family's names →

Nicknames

Common affectionate forms of Karthik — useful for everyday family conversation, early childhood, or as standalone given names themselves.

KariKart

Names similar to Karthik

If Karthik resonates with you, these names live in the same world — drawn from the same tradition, sharing the same meaning, or echoing a similar sound.

From the same tradition

Other Hindu boy names, common in Indian families

Aarav
From Sanskrit 'arava' (peaceful, calm) or 'rav' (sound, musical note).
Vivaan
Full of life, possessing radiance, from Sanskrit vivān, combining the intensifier vi- with vā (to blow, to breathe). The name evokes the first rays of the morning sun and a vital, breathing energy, casting the bearer as one filled with luminous vitality and the quickening force of dawn.
Vihaan
From Sanskrit vihana (dawn, morning, the early hours).
Aditya
Son of Aditi, belonging to the sun, from Sanskrit, where the Adityas are the solar deities born of the boundless mother Aditi. In ordinary speech the name stands directly for Surya, the sun, making it a bright emblem of light, warmth, and celestial radiance in Hindu tradition.

Sharing the same meaning

Other Hindu boy names from the Courage cluster

Arjun
Bright, shining white, the colour of lightning and silver — Arjun is the peerless archer of the Mahabharata, the warrior to whom Lord Krishna revealed the Bhagavad Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. His name blazes with clarity of purpose, martial skill, and the courage to act when conscience demands it
Shaurya
Valour, heroic courage, the bravery that charges forward without calculating the odds — Shaurya is the martial virtue most celebrated in the Rajput, Maratha, and Sikh warrior traditions, the quality that makes a soldier advance when retreat would be rational
Rajveer
Brave king, royal hero — combining raj (king) with veer (brave). The warrior-king who leads from the front with courage and justice.

Names that sound similar

Hindu boy names that open with the same syllables as Karthik

Kartik
Named after the sacred Hindu month and the god of war Kartikeya, son of Shiva. The month of Kartik is the holiest, when millions light lamps along the Ganges.
Karthikeyan
Son of the Krittika stars — Karthikeyan names Lord Murugan as the divine child raised by the six Krittika nymphs (the Pleiades constellation). A foundationally Tamil name carrying the cosmic motherhood of the stars themselves.
Kadamba
The kadamba tree — Kadamba (Sanskrit kadamba) names the orange-flowered tree under which Krishna played his flute in the forests of Vrindavan. The tree's globular orange blooms appear after monsoon rains.

Explore more names

Keep exploring names like Karthik — by tradition, by meaning, or by first letter.

Hindu boy namesIndian boy namesTamil boy namesNames that mean courageNames starting with K All baby names

Common questions about Karthik

What does the name Karthik mean?

Karthik means "Named for the month of Kartika and the star cluster Krittika — Karthik is an epithet of Murugan, the youthful war god born from six divine sparks to defeat the demon Tarakasura." It is a boy name of Sanskrit origin, traditionally used in Hindu families.

Is Karthik a boy or girl name?

Karthik is most commonly used as a boy name.

What is the origin of the name Karthik?

Karthik is of Sanskrit origin, used in Hindu tradition, commonly among Indian, Tamil, Telugu families.

Is Karthik a Hindu name?

Yes. Karthik is a boy name traditionally used in Hindu families, of Sanskrit origin.

What does Karthik mean in Sanskrit?

Karthik originates from Sanskrit, where it means "Named for the month of Kartika and the star cluster Krittika — Karthik is an epithet of Murugan, the youthful war god born from six divine sparks to defeat the demon Tarakasura."

What are common nicknames for Karthik?

Common short forms of Karthik include Kari, Kart.

What is the numerology of Karthik?

Karthik has a Pythagorean destiny number of 33 — the master teacher — unconditional love in action.

See how Karthik scores for your family

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