Annadā (अन्नदा, IAST: Annadā) is an Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She who bestows food and nourishment”. Anna (food, cooked grain, nourishment) and dā (giver, from the root dā, 'to give') unite in this beloved name, declaring Lalitā as the generous Goddess who sustains all embodied life through the gift of food.

Meaning, etymology & significance

In the Vedic and Tantric worldview, anna is not merely physical sustenance but the very substance of life; the Taittirīya Upaniṣad famously declares annaṃ brahma — 'food is Brahman.' By bearing the name Annadā, Lalitā is identified as the source of that life-giving Brahman-substance. The name is also closely associated with Annapūrṇā, the Goddess of Kāśī, and evokes the inexhaustible motherly generosity of the Divine.

Annadā is a warmly beloved name in Hindu families across Bengal, Odisha, and South India, often given to girls born on festival days associated with the Goddess or at harvest time. It is one of the most usable and recognisable names in this section of the Sahasranāma, pronounced an-na-dā with a short 'a' in the first syllable.

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Scriptural source

Annadā appears in the Lalitha Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Lalitha.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Annadā aligns with the Krittika nakshatra, under the Mesha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 7.