Biju (Malayalam: ബിജു) is a popular male name in India, especially in
Bengal,
Orissa,
Kerala, and
Bangladesh.
''Biju'' is derived from the similar rhyming name ''Viju''. It is highly likely that ''Viju'' is an affectionate version of the name ''
Vijaya
Vijaya may refer to:
Places
* Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam
* Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India
People
* Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...
'', which means ''Victory'' in
Sanskrit and several Indian languages. It has a similar meaning in Chinese as well. Biju is associated with
Arjuna
Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...
, the great warrior hero of the
Mahabharatha.
In Kerala, the name Biju is used by all communities:
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s,
Christians, and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s, and thus is a secular name, although many have added suffixes which indicate their
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
or community. For example, Biju Cheriya Othayoth Eramala (ബിജു ചെറിയ ഒതയോത് ബാലകൃഷ്ണൻ ഏറാമല ), in which ബിജു is the first name, ബാലകൃഷ്ണൻ is the first letter of father's name and ചെറിയ ഒതയോത് is the house name.
This name also may have derived from the French word "
bijou" (pronounced "bizhu"), meaning "jewel."
People with the given name
*
Biju Mathew (fl. 1998–present), American Marxist intellectual
*
Biju Menon
Biju Menon (born 9 September 1970) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a car ...
(b. 1970), Indian film actor
*
Biju Narayanan (fl. 1992–present), Indian playback singer
*
Biju Patnaik (1916-1997), Indian politician, founder of
Biju Janata Dal party
*
Biju Phukan
Biju Phukan; 18 February 1947 – 22 November 2017) was an Assamese actor. He was born in Dibrugarh, India, where he studied in the Dibrugarh HS Kanoi College and Dibrugarh Govt boys' higher secondary school Dibrugarh. He appeared in more than ...
(fl. 1970–present), Indian Assamese actor
*
Biju Toppo (fl. 1995–present), Indian documentary filmmaker
*
Biju Viswanath (fl. 1998–present), Indian film director
*
Bijukumar Damodaran, known as Dr. Biju (born 1971), Indian film director
People with the surname
*
Sathyabhama Das Biju (b. 1963), Indian biologist
{{given name, type=both
Indian masculine given names