Sinha is a Sanskrit term which originates in the Indian subcontinent and is common in India,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Bangladesh and Pakistan, covering South Asia. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

" or "brave person".

Usage

Indian subcontinent

In India, Sinha is used as a surname by the Bengali Kayasthas (also spelt ''Singha''), Haryanvis , Punjabis and the

Kayastha Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the C ...

s of the Hindi Belt. In Sri Lanka, the term 'Sinha' (or Siha / Sinhe / Singhe / Singha / Singho) have commonly been used by the Sinhalese (or Sinhala). When it comes to the term 'Sinhala' itself, the first part of the word, 'Sinha' stands for

while 'la' or 'le' stands for blood, giving the meaning 'Lion's blood'. The word Simhmam (or Singam / Singham / Singhai / Singai) is the

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

derivative. In northeast India, Sinha's held high positions as advisors during the times of the Mughal Empire. In northern and middle part of India as well as southern India Sinhraj/Sinharaj/Sinharaja or Rajasinha is also used, having the meaning Lion/Leo king. The more common surname Singh in India has the same root. Jayasinghe and other surnames like 'Wijesinghe', 'Weerasingha', 'Edirisinghe', 'Singaiariyan' in Sri Lanka may also share this root.

Brazil

Sinha is also an unrelated name found in Brazil. "Sinhá moça" is a Brazilian colloquialism that may be translated "miss" or "missy".

Notable persons with the surname Sinha

* Tapan Sinha, Indian film director, who worked both in Bengali and

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

* Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, Bangladeshi film actress * Manoj Sinha, 2nd Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir *

Mala Sinha Alda Sinha (born 11 November 1936), better known by her stage name Mala Sinha is a former Indian actress who has worked in Hindi, Bengali and Nepali films. Initially starting her career with regional cinema, she went on to become a top leading ...

, Indian film actress *

Kaliprasanna Sinha Kaliprasanna Sinha ( bn, কালীপ্রসন্ন সিংহ; 23 February 1841 – 24 July 1870), well known by his pen name Hootum Pyancha, was a Bengali author, playwright, and philanthropist. His most famous work was the translatio ...

, Bengali language author, playwright, and philanthropist *

Bikash Sinha Bikash Sinha (born 1945) is an Indian physicist, active in the fields of nuclear physics and high energy physics. Bikash Sinha was the director of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre and the chairman of th ...

, Indian scientist *

Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha, KCSI, PC, KC, (24 March 1863 – 4 March 1928) was a prominent British India lawyer and statesman. He was the first Governor of Bihar and Orissa, first Indian Advocate-General of Bengal, first ...

, first Governor of Bihar and Orissa, first Indian Advocate-General of Bengal, first Indian to become a member of the Viceroy's executive Council and the first Indian to become a member of the British ministry * Paul Sinha, British quiz player and comedian * Vidya Sinha, Indian film actress * Shatrughan Sinha, Indian film actor and politician * Sonakshi Sinha, Indian film actress *

Shumona Sinha Shumona Sinha, also spelled ''Sumana Sinha''; (Bengali: সুমনা সিনহা, Calcutta, 27 June 1973), is a naturalised French writer born in Calcutta, West Bengal, India, who lives in France. In her interviews for the French media, ...

, Indian writer * Surajit Chandra Sinha, Indian anthropologist * Anubhav Sinha, Indian film director *

Anugrah Narayan Sinha Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known as '' Bihar Vibhuti'', was an Indian nationalist statesman, participant in Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhian & one of the architects of modern Bihar, who was the first Deputy Chief Minis ...

, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar *

P. B. Illangasinghe Punchi Banda Elangasinha, Rate Mahatmaya ( si, පුංචි බණ්ඩා ඉලන්ගසිංහ; 6 April 1888 – 22 September 1960) was a Sri Lankan notary public, traditional eye doctor, astrologist and musicologist. Best known for wr ...

, Sri Lankan notary public, wrote the initial version of Sri Lankan national anthem *

Susanthika Jayasinghe Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe ( si, සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and ...

, Sri Lankan athlete who won the Olympic silver medal for the 200m event * Martin Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan novelist who authored the greatest Sinhalese novel Viragaya.'' Viragaya'' * Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan politician, prime minister of Sri Lanka four times

Places named after Sinha

* Sigiriya, fortress in Sri Lanka; its short name derives from 'Sinha Giriya' meaning "The rocky place of lions" * Singapore, named from 'Singa Pura' / 'Sinha Pure' which means Lion City in Sanskrit, before 1819

References