What Is a Hindu Princess Called?

While you are looking into various aspects of the Hindu culture, you might be wondering what is a Hindu princess called. When you find the answer, you are also going to discover that you are getting more information that you bargained for!

A Hindu princess is called a rani, which goes along with the Hindu prince name of raja. You would address a rani, by staying the word "rani" first, just as you would with a president, king, queen, priest, and so forth. If you are writing the name of a specific rani, you would capitalize the word and have "Rani." Some famous ranis throughout history are:

• Rani Murkerji
• Rani Laskmibai
• Rani Manicka

A rani might also be a Hindu queen, and not just a Hindu princess. Therefore, the name is just generally associated with royalty in the Hindu culture.

Other Meanings of "Rani"

You should probably be careful when you are using the word "rani," since you are going to find that it has some other meanings.

Hindu vs. Indian

One of the biggest problems that surrounds elements of the Hindu faith is its confusion with Indian. People tend to forget that Hindu is a system of beliefs, in other words a religion, and is not a place. Not all Hindus have to be from India and not all Indians have to be Hindu. Although 80% of people living in India are Hindus, that is not the only religion present in the country.

Other religions that people practice in India include:

• Jainism
• Buddhism
• Sikhism
• Islam
• Christianity
• Zoroastrians
• Judaism

Clearly, a number of different religions make up the composition of India. Important to note is that ranis and rajas are Indian, but they do not necessarily have to be Hindu. Usually they are going to be Hindu, but you might find a rani or raja who is one of those faiths or who is no faith at all.

The term rani is not purely religious, it certainly has secular connotations as well. Therefore, you might want to be careful before assuming that a rani is Hindu.

Casual Connotations of Rani

There is another reason why you want to be careful about calling anyone a rani, especially if you are not familiar with the culture. In slang in India-particularly for those who are practicing the Hindu religion-rani often refers to a woman that a man is interested. However, it is often said in a rather flirtatious way and carries that type of connotation with it. If you are a man traveling to India, you want to be careful about calling a girl a rani, because you will quite possibly be giving off a flirtatious type of vibe.

People also refer to certain types of girls as ranis. Think about the stereotypical cheerleader from the teen movies that have been so popular since the later part of the 20th century. You might describe one of those girls as a rani. You would mean someone that is popular, loud, friendly, but also a bit immature. The term can also mean a girl who is popular and stuck up or obnoxious.

Hopefully, you have not only learned the name for a Hindu princess, but you have also learned that you need to know about terms before using them.