What was Mahatma Gandhi’s birth name?

Mahatma Gandhi’s birth name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

He was born Mohandas, the son of Karamchand Gandhi, on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar. His full name follows a naming pattern common in the region: Mohandas was his personal name, Karamchand was his father’s name, and Gandhi was the family surname.

The title “Mahatma” was not his given name. It comes from Sanskrit words meaning “great soul” and became associated with Gandhi during his public life. Rabindranath Tagore is often credited with popularizing the title, although the history of its earliest use is more complicated.

Gandhi is also sometimes called Bapu, meaning “father,” especially in India. These honorifics can obscure the fact that the politician and independence leader was born simply as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He later signed writings and correspondence in several forms, including “M. K. Gandhi.”