Kareena Kapoor was born on 21st September 1980 in the midst of the Ganpati Utsav celebration. Although she is known today as Kareena, or fondly as Bebo, her birth name was reportedly Siddhima. This is believed to have been chosen by her grandfather, the famous actor-director Raj Kapoor.
It is believed that Raj Kapoor had named his granddaughters, Riddhima and Siddhima, after Riddhi and Siddhi, who were the wives of Lord Ganesha. Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, cousin of Kareena and daughter of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, was born on September 15, 1980, six days before Kareena.
So, who are Riddhi and Siddhi? As per the Ganesha Purana and other scriptures, they are divine incarnations that have been linked with Lord Ganesha. The manifestation of Riddhi is material prosperity, material success, fertility, and worldly prosperity. Siddhi is the manifestation of spiritual accomplishment, spiritual wisdom, spiritual success, and salvation.
Kareena Kapoor's birth name, 'Siddhima ', certainly had significance related to the symbolism connected to Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha symbolizes overcoming obstructions and new beginnings. At the same time, buddhi, riddhi and siddhi are linked with wisdom, prosperity and success, respectively. While Neetu Kapoor kept the name 'Riddhima' for her daughter, Babita decided to change the name of Siddhima to 'Kareena.'
Even the meaning of the name Kareena has an association with literature. It is said that when Babita was expecting Kareena, she was reading the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Babita got her inspiration from the novel and named her daughter Kareena with a little modification in spelling and pronunciation.
She recently starred in Meghna Gulzar's Daayra, as a police woman, which came out on September 18, 2026. She will star in an untitled procedural thriller set in the 1990s, directed by Arati Kadav, which is slated for production in September 2026.
For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.