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: Late 1921 – early 1922 (he was 27)
Place: Poona / Bombay, after his return from Sakori
After seven years of training under Upasni Maharaj at Sakori, Merwan Sheriar Irani returned in 1921, and a small circle of Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Muslim disciples began gathering around him. They started addressing him as ‘Meher Baba’, the Compassionate Father, and he accepted the name. This naming marked the beginning of his public mission as a Master, just before the opening of Manzil-e-Meem in Bombay (May 1922). Sources differ slightly on whether the name first emerged in late 1921 or early 1922; both refer to the same transitional months.
It was these early disciples who called him Meher Baba, meaning Compassionate Father, and ever since then he has been known by that name.
