Sanjay

Sanjay is a masculine given name of Sanskrit origin. It is commonly associated with the meaning conqueror or victorious, derived from the root jaya with a prefix. The form Sanjay is widely used across India, Nepal, and among South Asian communities abroad, and appears in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist contexts.

In the Mahabharata, Sanjaya is the charioteer of King Dhritarashtra and the narrator who describes the Kurukshetra War to the blind king. This literary role gives the name cultural resonance as a witness, though in everyday use it functions simply as a personal given name.

Notable people named Sanjay include Sanjay Dutt (born 1959), an Indian actor; Sanjay Leela Bhansali (born 1963), a film director and producer; Sanjay Gandhi (1946–1980), a politician and activist; Sanjay Subrahmanyam (born 1961), a historian; and Sanjay Mishra (born 1963), an actor.

Variants include Sanjaya, a form found in Sanskrit scriptures, and related names such as Sanjeev. The name is typically transliterated as Sanjay, with occasional spellings like Sanjai or Sanjaye in different languages. The name remains common in India and among the Indian diaspora, reflecting its Sanskrit heritage and enduring cultural presence.