Children are named on the _chathi_ or sixth day after birth, and
the parents always ascertain from a wise man whether the soul of
any dead relative has been born again in the child so that they may
name it after him. It is also thought that the sex may change in
transmigration, for male children are sometimes named after women
relatives and female after men. Mr. Hira Lal notes the following
instance of the names of four children in a family. The eldest was
named after his grandfather; the second was called Bhalu or bear,
as his maternal uncle who had been eaten by a bear was reborn in him;
the third was called Ghasi, the name of a low caste of grass-cutters,
because the two children born before him had died; and the fourth
was called Kausi, because the sorcerer could not identify the spirit
of any relative as having been born again in him. The name Kausi
is given to any one who cannot remember his sept, as in the saying,
'_Bhule bisare kausi got_,' or 'A man who has got no _got_ belongs
to the Kausi _got_.' Kausi is said to mean a stranger. Bad names
are commonly given to avert ill-luck or premature death, as Boya, a
liar; Labdu, one smeared with ashes; Marha, a corpse; or after some
physical defect as Lati, one with clotted hair; Petwa, a stammerer;
Lendra, shy; Ghundu, one who cannot walk; Ghunari, stunted; or from
the place of birth, as Dongariha or Paharu, born on a hill; Banjariha,
born in brushwood, and so on. A man will not mention the names of his
wife, his son's wife or his sister's son's wife, and a woman will not
name her husband or his elder brother or parents. As already stated,
a woman saying her husband's name aloud is temporarily put out of
caste, the Hindu custom being thus carried to extremes, as is often
the case among the lower castes.