What's in a name? New daddy Prithviraj asks

Of late, social media is abuzz with discussions about Malayalam star Prithviraj's newborn daughter's rather curious sounding name -- Alankrita Menon Prithviraj?

 Turns out, the middle name, 'Menon', denotes a caste. And Prithviraj has always maintained that he is against things like caste.

Prithviraj finally came up with an explanation on his Facebook page recently.

According to him, "I have publicly spoken against caste system and a society that still holds undercurrents of discrimination by the same and I feel as strongly about it today and will do so forever."

He said that his daughter's middle name denotes his wife's maiden surname, and not any caste.

"My wife, all through her professional career, has been addressed as Ms Menon and even today is addressed so by many of her colleagues.

"Hence, the 'Menon' in Alankrita Menon Prithviraj is JUST a name and it so happens that a caste that once existed (according to me) was called the same.

"We did contemplate Alankrita Supriya Prithviraj but a sequence of three first names did not sound right.

"And to all my well wishers who suggested Alankrita Prithviraj, as chauvinistic as I am, I would like my child to have her mother's name even before mine. So reiterating once again, MENON for me is JUST a name and has no significance whatsoever with respect to caste, religion or beliefs," the actor concluded.

Prithviraj hopes that "this little girl will one day grow up to be an intelligent, responsible, socially aware young woman."