What's in a name?

I had an interesting conversation with my friend, Manish, the other day. It was all about his name and how he preferred to write it in the Devanagari script and how he pronounced it.

The correct spelling in the Devanagari script for his name is मनीष (IPA: /mǝniːʂ/) but he prefers to write it as मनीश (IPA: /mǝniːʃ/) for aesthetic reasons. The difference between just one letter though changes his name from having a meaning to making it meaningless.

मनीष comes from the Sanskrit word मनीषिन् (IPA: /mǝniːʂin/) which means a wise man. मनीश on the other hand has no intrinsic meaning. It is mistakenly believed to be portmanteau of मन (heart, mind) and ईश (God).

My friend's problems arise from him wanting to have a meaningful name and at the same time writing and pronouncing it differently. I haven't mentioned his last name so I think I am safe from the dire consequences promised to me if I ever stooped so low as to reveal this secret of his.

As for me, I will continue to pronounce his name using the voiceless retroflex fricative instead of the voiceless postalveolar fricative.

p.s. 100 extra points for whoever got throught this article without clicking on any of the links.