People named Kovid share the blessing and burden of their moniker amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr. Kovid Bhayana hadn’t devoted much thought to his name throughout his life, but as the coronavirus pandemic swelled in the U.S., the third-year medical student worried for his patients. “You don't want to hear that word in a hospital,” he says.
Among colleagues in Washington, D.C., where Bhayana, 23, attends Howard University, his name is a pleasant “conversation starter,” however, he is sensitive to its sound during telehealth appointments or while treating those incoherent or with hearing problems. “I am not trying to scare anyone,” he tells Yahoo Life. “It’s a unique struggle.”
In February 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the mysterious disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 was “COVID-19,” a title chosen, as WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained, “to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing.” He further explained in a tweet, “We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease."
Indeed, the name Kovid isn’t common in the United States. “It hasn’t been given to any baby at any time in the 140-year history of the U.S. Social Security name roaster,” Pamela Redmond, the founder of the baby name website Nameberry, tells Yahoo Life. “The country keeps records given to five or more babies in any given year, so its possible there are one or two named Kovid, but for various privacy reasons, those truly unique names are not recorded.”
Kovid or Kovidh, the latter of which, according to BabyCenter India, translates to “wise,” is rare as well. A company representative tells Yahoo Life that both don’t appear among the top 100 names for boys or girls born in India in 2020.
"Kovid or Kovidh as a name does exist in India as it has a meaning in Hindi,” says the rep. “It is quite rare and mostly used for boys. Generally, Indians want the names to mean something since it is believed that the name has an impact on a person's life. The name Karuna (phonetically similar to Corona) is a popular name as it means compassion. Some Indians have named their babies after COVID though and things related to the pandemic."
Parents often spend significant time and effort brainstorming the perfect baby name — according to a 2018 BabyCenter survey of 4,000 people, one third selected their child’s name during the second trimester of pregnancy, while one fifth did so during the first trimester or earlier, with 12 percent finalizing their pick before conception. Such deliberation could be justified by research findings that monikers can influence racial bias, romantic choices and even career outcomes.
Kovid Gupta, 31, an Indian-American author and filmmaker in Houston, Texas, has humored jokes like “Kovid’s coming, stay away” and “I heard you’re contagious these days,” along with double-takes while canceling his gym membership or using his bank card. However, as a public figure in India — he’s written soap operas for Hindi television and appeared on Forbes’s 2017 30 under 30 for Asia list — association with a health pandemic is risky business. With a new book of short stories coming out, friends have suggested he use a pseudonym or his initials. “[It’s affected] the brand I’ve built,” he tells Yahoo Life.
Gupta understands the fascination with his name, which he suspects will decline in popularity. “It occurred to me that I [probably] belong to the last generation of people with this name,” he believes. “It wasn’t common in India to begin with, but now, who would name their kids after one of the worst events in the 21st century?”
However, for Kovid Sharma, 51, a general manager at a manufacturing company in Uttar Pradesh, India, the name distinguishes him from other job applicants. Having to clarify his name isn’t convenient but the effort paid off in a recent job interview. “It served as a perfect ice breaker and it went smoothly after that,” he tells Yahoo Life.
Dating, however, is trickier. This year, Bhayana used a dating app, where he estimates that 50 percent of prospective suitors questioned his name. “Some are ridiculous,” he says. “I won’t respond to questions like, ‘Is that your real name?’' However, he says, a clever, ‘So this is your fault’ could start a connection. While Kovid Rathee, 32, an Australian-based data and infrastructure engineer originally from Rohtake, India, tells Yahoo Life that he’s jokingly experimented with “bad” pickup lines such as “I’m contagious, but in a different way.”
Rathee has always recognized that his name is unusual. “I remember [doing online searches] for my name 15 years ago and I could only find a handful of people named Kovid. To date, I haven't met anyone [with my name].”
All the Kovids interviewed for this story aren’t ruffled by perceptions and have adapted to the new weight of their name. For example, Bhayana leans on an older habit of introducing himself as “Kevin” during short and impersonal interactions like ordering takeout food. “It saves people time and potential comments,” he says.
For Rathee, a name change is out of the question. “The name Kovid definitely has contributed to what I am today or what I was before the pandemic,” he says. “I can't imagine being called anything else.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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