Hindi introductions are built from several compact predicate frames: मेरा नाम X है for a name, मैं X हूँ for identity, मैं X से हूँ for origin, मैं X में रहता/रहती हूँ for residence, and इनसे मिलिए for presenting another person. Each frame assigns its own agreement and postposition; English I am from... and I live in... must not collapse into one Hindi pattern.
This page teaches those expressions as complete constructions. The broader social choice among names, titles, kin terms, and जी is covered under introductions and respectful address.
Name as the subject: मेरा नाम X है
The neutral pattern is possessor का/के/की + नाम + X + है. Because नाम is masculine singular, use मेरा नाम, आपका नाम, उसका नाम regardless of the person's gender.
मेरा नाम आरती है।
merā nām ārtī hai.
My name is Aarti.
आपका नाम क्या है?
āpkā nām kyā hai?
What is your name? (respectful)
इनका नाम प्रोफ़ेसर नसीम अली है।
inkā nām profesar nasīm alī hai.
Their/His/Her name is Professor Naseem Ali. (respectful reference)
In all three, नाम controls masculine मेरा/आपका/इनका and singular है. The gender or honorific status of the named person does not change this internal noun phrase. English treats my as a fixed form; Hindi makes the possessive agree with what is possessed.
मैं आरती हूँ is also natural and more direct: “I am Aarti.” मेरा नाम आरती है explicitly answers a name question and is useful in formal introductions, forms, and language lessons. नाम है मेरा आरती would be marked or poetic, not neutral word order.
Identity and role: मैं X हूँ
Names, nationalities, and many role nouns form a copular predicate without an article.
मैं कबीर हूँ और मैं नया डिज़ाइनर हूँ।
maĩ kabīr hū̃ aur maĩ nayā ḍizāinar hū̃.
I'm Kabir, and I'm the new designer. (male speaker)
मैं समीरा हूँ; मैं इस स्कूल में विज्ञान की शिक्षिका हूँ।
maĩ samīrā hū̃; maĩ is skūl meṃ vijñān kī śikṣikā hū̃.
I'm Sameera; I'm a science teacher at this school.
हूँ agrees with first-person मैं. A declinable adjective such as नया/नई agrees with the speaker or referent, and a role noun may have a gendered pair such as शिक्षक/शिक्षिका. Some modern profession nouns, including many English loans, can remain unchanged while an adjective shows agreement.
For a brief professional exchange, a role can be more useful than a life history:
नमस्कार, मैं रवि मेहता हूँ। मैं ग्राहक सहायता टीम से हूँ।
namaskār, maĩ ravi mehtā hū̃. maĩ grāhak sahāyatā ṭīm se hū̃.
Hello, I'm Ravi Mehta. I'm with the customer support team. (formal workplace introduction)
Here टीम से होना expresses affiliation, not geographical origin. The same postposition से receives its interpretation from the noun and setting.
Origin: place + से + होना
The broadly useful origin frame is person + place से + होना.
मैं भोपाल से हूँ, लेकिन अब पुणे में रहती हूँ।
maĩ bhopāl se hū̃, lekin ab puṇe meṃ rahtī hū̃.
I'm from Bhopal, but I live in Pune now. (female speaker)
से gives origin; में gives the location of residence. The verb रहती हूँ agrees with the female speaker. A male speaker says रहता हूँ.
आप कहाँ से हैं? — मैं मूल रूप से असम से हूँ।
āp kahā̃ se haiṃ? — maĩ mūl rūp se asam se hū̃.
Where are you from? — I'm originally from Assam. (respectful question)
मूल रूप से (neutral-formal) distinguishes origin from current home. आप कहाँ से आए हैं? can instead mean “Where have you just come from?” because आना foregrounds a journey. Context sometimes gives it the broader origin reading, but आप कहाँ से हैं? is less ambiguous for background.
An alternative is आप कहाँ के हैं? to a man or mixed group and आप कहाँ की हैं? to one woman or an all-female group. The genitive के/की agrees with an understood person/category. Gender-neutral कहाँ से हैं? avoids that choice.
Residence and belonging are different claims
Residence uses में रहना. Hometown or belonging can use X का/की रहने वाला/वाली, a productive but heavier expression.
मैं पिछले पाँच साल से दिल्ली में रह रहा हूँ।
maĩ pichle pā̃c sāl se dillī meṃ rah rahā hū̃.
I have been living in Delhi for the past five years. (male speaker)
मैं उत्तराखंड की रहने वाली हूँ।
maĩ uttarākhaṇḍ kī rahne vālī hū̃.
I am from / a native of Uttarakhand. (female speaker)
In X का/की रहने वाला/वाली, the first genitive agrees with रहने वाला/वाली, which in turn agrees with the person. A male says उत्तराखंड का रहने वाला हूँ. This expression often suggests home-region identity more strongly than simple current residence.
Nationality usually takes a predicate adjective or noun: मैं भारतीय हूँ, वह नेपाली हैं (respectful). It does not require से unless a place of origin is being stated: वह नेपाल से हैं.
Introducing another person
Everyday respectful speech normally uses plural-form ये/इनसे for one honored person. Formal prose may retain direct यह with honorific हैं, but इनसे मिलिए—ये X हैं is the safest spoken presentation frame. से मिलना is the fixed reciprocal/social frame: the person met takes से.
इनसे मिलिए—ये मेरी सहकर्मी नीलम हैं।
inse milie—ye merī sahkarmī nīlam haiṃ.
Meet Neelam, my colleague. (respectful introduction)
अमन, ये मेरे पुराने दोस्त फ़ैज़ हैं।
aman, ye mere purāne dost faiz haiṃ.
Aman, this is my old friend Faiz. (respectful reference to Faiz)
Honorific ये ... हैं can refer to one respected person. Possessive मेरी in the first agrees with feminine सहकर्मी in its intended reference; मेरे in the second agrees with masculine दोस्त. For a child or nonhonorific object of identification, singular यह ... है can be natural.
मिलवाना is the causative “introduce/cause to meet”: मैं आपको अपनी सहकर्मी से मिलवाता हूँ (male speaker). The introduced person still takes से, while the person receiving the introduction takes को.
A short dialogue
नैना: नमस्ते, मेरा नाम नैना है। आपका नाम क्या है? — अर्जुन: मैं अर्जुन हूँ। मैं जयपुर से हूँ। आप? — नैना: मैं लखनऊ की रहने वाली हूँ, पर अभी दिल्ली में रहती हूँ।
nainā: namaste, merā nām nainā hai. āpkā nām kyā hai? — arjun: maĩ arjun hū̃. maĩ jaypur se hū̃. āp? — nainā: maĩ lakhnaū kī rahne vālī hū̃, par abhī dillī meṃ rahtī hū̃.
Naina: Hello, my name is Naina. What's your name? — Arjun: I'm Arjun. I'm from Jaipur. And you? — Naina: I'm originally from Lucknow, but I currently live in Delhi.
The dialogue separates identity, origin, and residence rather than forcing all three into English-style I am from/live at wording.
Common Mistakes
❌ मेरी नाम पूजा है।
Incorrect: the possessive agrees with masculine नाम, not with the female speaker.
✅ मेरा नाम पूजा है।
merā nām pūjā hai.
My name is Pooja.
❌ मैं मुंबई से रहता हूँ।
Incorrect for residence: रहना locates residence with में; से marks origin.
✅ मैं मुंबई में रहता हूँ।
maĩ mumbāī meṃ rahtā hū̃.
I live in Mumbai. (male speaker)
❌ इनको मिलिए, ये मेरी प्रबंधक हैं।
Wrong case frame for ‘meet’: मिलना takes the other person with से.
✅ इनसे मिलिए, ये मेरी प्रबंधक हैं।
inse milie, ye merī prabandhak haiṃ.
Meet my manager. (respectful reference to a woman)
❌ आप कहाँ से है?
Incorrect honorific agreement: आप takes हैं.
✅ आप कहाँ से हैं?
āp kahā̃ se haiṃ?
Where are you from? (respectful)
Key Takeaways
- मेरा नाम X है is organized around masculine singular नाम, not the speaker's gender.
- से होना marks origin or affiliation; में रहना marks residence.
- कहाँ से हैं? is a broadly useful, gender-neutral origin question.
- Learn X से मिलना and Y को X से मिलवाना with their participant marking.
- Honorific singular people can trigger plural ये/वे ... हैं in introductions.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Introductions and respectful addressA2 — Introduce yourself and address others with Hindi forms that fit the relationship, role, and level of respect.
- कहाँ किधर and कहाँ सेA2 — Distinguish कहाँ for location or destination, किधर for direction, and कहाँ से for source, origin, or starting point.
- Equational and nominal sentencesA1 — Build Hindi clauses that identify, classify, or describe a subject with a nominal predicate and the appropriate form of होना.
- आप respectful youA1 — Use आप for respectful singular and ordinary plural address, with plural agreement, postpositional forms, and socially appropriate contrasts with तुम.
- Respectful third-person referenceB2 — Refer respectfully to one third person with plural ये or वे, plural oblique forms, and honorific agreement while preserving deixis and gender.
- Predicative adjectives with होनाA2 — Build clauses in which an adjective describes the subject through present, past, or future forms of होना.