Prem is an Indian name from Sanskrit meaning "love" or "affection."
Prem comes from the Sanskrit प्रेम (prema), one of the richest words in any language for love — specifically the selfless, devoted, unconditional love that in Hindu and Buddhist traditions is regarded as the highest human virtue and a path to the divine. Unlike kāma (desire-love) or sneha (affectionate fondness), prema carries a sense of love that transcends personal benefit: it is the love of a devotee for God, a mother for her child, a saint for all beings. To name a child Prem is to bestow love itself as an identity.
The name is ancient and pan-South-Asian, used across Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist communities in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the broader diaspora. It appears in devotional poetry from the medieval bhakti tradition — the poets Kabir, Mirabai, and Tulsidas wrote of prem as the only true knowledge — and it has been the name of saints, musicians, and spiritual teachers throughout the centuries. In modern times, Prem Rawat (also known as Maharaji) brought the name to global awareness as a spiritual teacher with millions of followers worldwide.
Prem is beautifully compact: a single syllable that carries enormous semantic weight, pronounceable in virtually every language with grace and ease. In the West it is still recognizably South Asian while feeling genuinely modern and minimalist in the era of short, punchy names. For parents who want a name that is simultaneously intimate, philosophical, and universal, Prem offers something rare: a name that means exactly what every parent most deeply feels for their newborn.