Ramesh

Ramesh is a masculine given name of Indian origin. It derives from Sanskrit, combining Rama, the name of a major Hindu deity, with ish(a), a suffix meaning “lord” or “ruler.” The resulting meaning is commonly rendered as “Lord Rama” or “the lord of Rama.” The name is widespread across India and among Indian diaspora communities, and is used across many languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. Variants include Ramash, Ramish, and Ramesh, and it is sometimes shortened in daily use.

In India the name is typically a first name and not a surname. It is used by people of various religious and cultural backgrounds and across social strata. In some cases, Ramesh is anglicized in different spellings.

Notable people with the given name include Ramesh Sippy, an Indian film director and producer best known for the film Sholay; Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, an Indian politician who has served as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and as Union Minister of Education; and Ramesh Thakur, an Indian-born Canadian academic and former United Nations official. The name appears across many fields in India and among the global Indian diaspora, reflecting its long-standing usage in South Asian naming traditions.