An Indian name often meaning touchstone or philosopher's stone, symbolizing value and transformation.
Paras is a name of Sanskrit origin whose root, *parasmani* or simply *paras* (पारस), refers to the mythical philosopher's stone — the legendary substance believed to transmute base metals into gold. In classical Sanskrit literature and Indian folklore, the *paras* stone appears repeatedly as a symbol of transformative power, wisdom that elevates the ordinary into the extraordinary, and the purifying force of knowledge.
The name therefore carries an inherently aspirational poetry: the child named Paras is imagined as someone who will enrich and elevate whatever they touch. The name is common across the Indian subcontinent — in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi communities — and carries equal currency for boys and girls in different regional contexts, though it skews masculine in northern India. Notable bearers include Paras Chhabra, a well-known Indian actor and television personality, who brought the name into wider popular awareness in the early 2000s.
In some Persian-influenced traditions the name overlaps with *Pars*, the ancient Persian name for Persia itself (modern Fars province), lending it an additional layer of civilizational pride. Contemporary parents across the South Asian diaspora in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States have embraced Paras precisely because it travels well internationally: it is short, pronounceable in English, distinctive without being opaque, and carries a meaning — the stone that makes things golden — that resonates across cultures as a parent's wish for their child.