Evidence record · given name
Meaning and use are separate questions.
Lexical evidence: Light-related lexical sense; personal naming intention is not established.
Documented use: Documented within the public name Noor Jehan, whose Punjabi-language singing is recorded by Radio Pakistan.
What the dictionary establishes
John T. Platts’s dictionary records nūr as an Arabic-derived word with senses concerning light, brightness and illumination. The inspected printed entry supplies these lexical associations. This is lexical evidence for the word associated with the spelling Noor; it is not a record of one family’s naming decision.[1]
The dictionary presents several related forms and expressions beside the principal entry. Readers should therefore check the entry word itself rather than treating every nearby lexical entry as an alternative meaning of the same name. This record limits its lexical claim to the light-related sense supported by the inspected nūr entry.[1]
Punjabi cultural connections
Radio Pakistan’s dated remembrance of Noor Jehan places her birth in Kasur and notes that she sang in Punjabi as well as other languages. The source documents the public form Noor Jehan in a life connected with Punjab. It does not establish that Noor was her birth name or explain why that professional name was adopted.[2]
An Associated Press of Pakistan report about a Lok Virsa film screening also uses Noor Jehan and Noorjahan in its account. Its subject is a performer and a commemoration, not the origins of every name bearer. The variation is a reminder to retain the exact published form when citing a specific historical record.[3]
Keep the evidence fields apart
For this entry, the lexical source language is Arabic and the documented sense is light-related. The individual intention of a bearer remains unknown. A name used in Punjabi cultural life can draw on vocabulary with a history beyond Punjab; that does not make its use less relevant to a Punjabi archive.[1]
When researching your own record, preserve the complete name rather than automatically equating every compound with the standalone form. Add the source’s spelling, date and context, then seek a checked native form if needed. This is a method for keeping the inspected dictionary evidence separate from the documentary evidence of a person’s public name.[3]
Sources & notes
Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.
- John Thompson Platts. A Dictionary of Urdū, Classical Hindī, and English: nūr ↗original historical dictionary entry · Source date: 1884 work; consulted Sampson Low impression undated · Locator: Printed 1159; scan part 2, PDF 555; nūr. Accessed 2026-11-02.Selected printed entry and relevant original corrections inspected. First-edition text; consulted impression is undated. Modern search interfaces and personal naming intentions are outside this lexical scope.Return to What the dictionary establishes, paragraph 1 ↑Return to What the dictionary establishes, paragraph 2 ↑Return to Keep the evidence fields apart, paragraph 1 ↑
- Radio Pakistan. Birth anniversary of Noor Jehan observed ↗institutional remembrance · Source date: 2020-09-21 · Locator: 21 September 2020, paragraphs 1–4: name, Kasur and singing languages. Accessed 2026-11-04.Inspected dated record; no unsupported name-origin claim extracted.Return to Punjabi cultural connections, paragraph 1 ↑
- Associated Press of Pakistan. Lok Virsa to pay tribute to Malka-e-Tarannum tomorrow ↗institutional news report · Source date: 2018-12-28 · Locator: Headline and paragraphs on screening and singer attribution. Accessed 2026-11-04.Inspected usage of Noor Jehan and Noorjahan; not treated as onomastic scholarship. Publication date checked in the publisher’s displayed date or page metadata.Return to Punjabi cultural connections, paragraph 2 ↑Return to Keep the evidence fields apart, paragraph 2 ↑
Record PH-NAM-0086 · English edition · human review not performed