Anupam Mittal’s 'Quiet Rebellion' Against Patriarchy For His Daughter's Name

Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO of People group and Shaadi.com, recently took to LinkedIn with a deeply personal post about his daughter, and it has sparked powerful conversations all across the internet. Choosing to reject age-old naming customs, Mittal shared that he and his family had made a conscious decision regarding naming their daughter.

Traditionally, a woman’s middle name in India often reflects her father’s name, only to be replaced later by her husband’s. However, Mittal questioned this quiet yet persistent tradition in his recent post on LinkedIn.

"A Name That Begins With Her"

Instead of following that path, Anupam Mittal and his wife Aanchal Kumar chose to give their daughter a name that would belong solely to her: Alyssa Anantara.

“It’s a quiet tradition. So quiet, in fact, that most don’t question it. But we did. And instead of Alyssa Anupam, we named her Alyssa Anantara. ‘Anantara’ – which means limitless. Rooted in Ananta, another name for Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. It’s a small thing. A name. But also… not so small,” he wrote in his post.

The deeper intention behind choosing the name was to ensure that their daughter doesn’t grow up feeling the pressure to live up to someone else’s identity.

“In a world where women are still introduced as someone's daughter, someone's wife, someone's mother... we just wanted her to start as herself. This wasn't a grand gesture. It won't change the world. But for us, it felt like the right place to begin. A quiet way to say — We believe in equality. In her, In her choices, In her future! And that felt enough,” Mittal added.

A Post That Sparked a Movement

This post resonated widely online, especially among women and parents. Many praised Mittal for taking a step that, though symbolic, felt deeply impactful.

“As a woman and also a mother of a daughter, this moved me deeply — ‘You are not defined by the men in your life.’ Thank you, Anupam Mittal for that bold conscious step,” one user commented.

Another added, "Parents like you set the gold standard for nurturing daughters—not by imposing societal expectations, but by empowering them to forge their own paths.”

What began as a simple naming choice by the entrepreneur and business professional Anupam Mittal, has now become a quiet revolution in the way we think about identity, tradition, and what we pass on to our next generation.