The Name 'Meher Baba'
مهر بابا · मेहेर बाबा
Meaning
‘Compassionate Father.’ A name formed from the Persian *meher* (love, kindness, grace) and *baba* (father, revered elder).
Date: 1920 (he was 26)
Place: Nasik (his men gathered from Poona)
By 1920, devoted disciples had gathered around Merwan Seth, as Meher Baba was then known. When his men came together at Nasik, Sayyed Saheb proposed changing his title. Several names were put forward and rejected — among them ‘Mehru Baba’, meaning Great Father — until Sayyed Saheb himself proposed ‘Meher Baba’, the Compassionate Father. It was endorsed by all at once, and he returned to Poona newly named Meher Baba. The name later became widely known as he began his public mission as a Master, around the opening of Manzil-e-Meem in Bombay (June 1922).
After several names were suggested and rejected, Sayyed Saheb himself proposed the name Meher Baba — meaning Compassionate Father — and it was immediately endorsed by all.
