Ratri
Ratri (रात्री) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “Night; the personified night-goddess”. Find pronunciation, origin, deity association, popularity and similar Hindu baby names.
Ratri (रात्री) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “Night; the personified night-goddess”. Find pronunciation, origin, deity association, popularity and similar Hindu baby names.
Ratri (रात्री, IAST: rātrī) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “Night; the personified night-goddess”. The Vedic goddess of night; the Rig Veda devotes a famous hymn (10.127) to her.
Meaning, etymology & significance
Ratri (रात्री) is the Sanskrit word for night — and in Vedic tradition the personified goddess of the night. The Rig Veda (10.127) devotes a famous hymn entirely to Ratri-Devi, praising her as the gentle protector who arrives "filling the wide spaces, looking around with her many eyes" (the stars).
The Ratri Sukta — the Vedic hymn to night — is recited as part of evening sandhya-vandanam in many Brahmanic households. Ratri is praised in the hymn as the one who keeps watch over the sleeping world, the gentle counterpart to the active day.
To name a daughter Ratri is therefore to invoke this entire Vedic night-goddess tradition. The name is unusually deep — almost ritually charged — and pairs especially well with classical-Brahmanic surnames.
Pronunciation: RAA-tree. The variant Ratri (with the long ā) is the formal Vedic spelling.
Astrology — nakshatra & rashi
By the standard Vedic correspondence between the first syllable of a name and the lunar mansion (nakshatra), Ratri aligns with the Swati nakshatra, under the Tula rashi (Moon sign).
Similar names
Hindu names with a similar feel or meaning include: Rati, Yamini, Aaradhya. Each is a distinct choice with its own etymology — explore them on their own pages for fuller context.