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Cultural

Thirunangai

Tamil Nadu's own word for a trans woman — "respected woman" — chosen by the community to replace older, harsher names.

  • One of twenty-two Cultural identities
  • No settled flag
  • 3 min read
A character with a cup of tea in a shop full of plants and pottery

A word that belongs to a people. This identity is held within a specific culture. The page is here to understand it, not to adopt it.

A shorter entry: the essentials, written to the same standard. The fuller guides are on the main identities.

What it is

Thirunangai is Tamil. Thiru is the honorific — the respected, the Sri or Ms in front of a name — and nangai is woman. Put together: respected woman. It is the word Tamil trans women chose for themselves, and Wiktionary's entry records that it was coined in the 2000s by activists as a modern and authentically Tamil identity, set against hijra.

It has siblings. Thirunambi, respected man, for trans men; thirunar, respected person, for anyone. The state took the words up: The News Minute reported that the Tamil Nadu government introduced thirunangai officially in 2006, as suggested by the community. When the same government began replacing it with "third gender" in official documents — The News Minute reported the change in November 2019 — activists objected publicly, saying it stripped the community of a name it had chosen and treated them as other.

What it is not: a synonym for the English "transgender", and not a word for outsiders to adopt. It is a Tamil word for Tamil people, with a specific fight behind it. If you are a Tamil trans woman, it is probably already yours. If you are not, learn it so you can use it correctly about someone else.

Pronouns

She/her in English. In Tamil the respectful forms do the work, and thirunangai is already a respectful noun — you do not need to add anything to it.

Does this sound like you?

You crossed out aravani on a form and wrote thirunangai, and the clerk let it stand.
Your amma in the community uses the old word; you use the new one; you have both stopped correcting each other.
You have seen your word struck through in a government notice and replaced with "third gender", and felt it in your chest.
In English you say trans woman. In Tamil you say thirunangai. They mean the same person and do not feel the same.
You know which word an NGO uses, which a police station uses and which your friends use, and you switch without thinking.
Someone outside Tamil Nadu asked whether you are hijra, and the answer was longer than they expected.

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Nearby identities

The distinction is the useful part.

Aravani

The older Tamil word, tied to the god Aravan and the Koovagam festival. Same community; thirunangai was coined to replace it in public life. Aravani survives in the festival and in older mouths.

Compare Thirunangai and Aravani →
Hijra

The pan-South Asian community of houses and gurus. Thirunangai was chosen partly to stand apart from hijra, as a Tamil identity in its own right. Some thirunangais live in hijra-style houses; the word does not require it.

Compare Thirunangai and Hijra →
Transgender Female

The English umbrella. Most thirunangais would accept trans woman in English; the Tamil word carries the local history and the fight for the name that the English one does not.

Compare Thirunangai and Transgender Female →
Third gender

The government's replacement category. Activists say it flattens a chosen, respectful word into a bureaucratic one.

Compare Thirunangai and Third gender →
Khwaja sira

Pakistan's respectful umbrella term, taken from a courtly title. A parallel move — a community choosing its own dignified word — in a different country and language.

Compare Thirunangai and Khwaja sira →

It might not be you if…

  • You are not Tamil. The word is a specific people's answer to a specific insult; it does not travel.
  • You want a word for a trans man. That is thirunambi. For any trans person, thirunar.
  • You are looking for the official category on a Tamil Nadu form. That may now read "third gender"; the community's word is still thirunangai.

Questions people ask

What does thirunangai mean?

Respected woman. Thiru is the honorific, nangai is woman, and Wiktionary records the compound as an activist coinage of the 2000s meant to be modern and authentically Tamil.

Is thirunangai the same as hijra?

No. Hijra is a South Asian community structure with houses, gurus and ritual work. Thirunangai is a Tamil word for a trans woman, chosen partly to step away from hijra. A person can be both. Many are one and not the other.

Why did the Tamil Nadu government stop using it?

In November 2019 The News Minute reported that official documents had begun replacing thirunangai with "third gender", and that the welfare board had been renamed to match. Activists called the change demeaning and said it took away a name they had chosen. Whatever the paperwork says, the community's word has not changed.

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Last updated · How these pages are written and checked

No flag is shown because none is settled. Text: written from how people who use the word Thirunangai describe it.

Sources:

This is not a clinical instrument, not a diagnosis, and not evidence of anything about anyone. It describes experiences so you can recognise your own — or rule them out.