The Chinese name is língjiǎo (菱角), líng meaning "caltrop" and jiǎo meaning "horn".
In India, the plant has different regional names, such as singhada (Hindi: सिंघाडा), pani-phal (Hindi: पानीफल), or (Urdu: سنگھارا) shingoda (Gujarati: શિંગોડા),Heikrak(Manipuri).This fruit's Bengali name is Paniphal (পানিফল), Singda (সিংড়া) or Singara (সিঙ্গারা).