The ending "Amma" for men

[S Krishna]

  In Southern India, the name "Amma" is normally used as an ending for
the first names of women. However, one does see the ending "amma" for
men also( examples I know mainly consist of the ending "kr*SNamA" as
in the names kr*SNamA-cAri,( there is also the name kr*SNACAri, which
makes me think that the name "kr*SNamAcAri is from kr*SNamA and not
kr*SNa), gOpAlakr*SNamma, zivarAmakr*SNamma, EccamA( apparently a folk
hero in the Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh), LakshmA/Laxma( a fairly
common name in Telangana as in Laxma Reddy/Laxma Goud) etc..
I would like to know if
1. Any other male names ending in "Amma".
2. The reason for this i.e. why is it that some male names have an
ending that is typically feminine? ( One reason that I heard some time
ago( besides the obvious "mere coincidence") is that parents, who had
hitherto lost male progeny, would take a vow to bring up a male child as
a female IF he survived ; as a part of the process they would give the
new born male a feminine name...This would be analogous to names like
nAthUrAm( rAm with a "nath"i.e. nosering) in Northern India..In
addition to this, is there any other reason?....

Looking forward to your replies,
Regards,
Krishna

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