We are having our first baby - a girl - in [name]September[/name] and we really like the name [name]Bodhi[/name]. We like that its a bit different, we like the NN [name]Bo[/name] and we love the meaning - “awakening” or enlightenment in Buddhism, to which my husband subscribes to. He has described this baby as his ‘awakening’ in life and I think that this would be a special reminder of that to our daughter.
On Buddhist naming websites, it categorises [name]Bodhi[/name] as a girls name… however on nameberry it only has it as a boy’s name.
What do you all think, could it be used as a girls name?
I have a second cousin named [name]Bodhi[/name], an he’s a boy, so its all boy to me. Its not to my taste anyway but it doesn’t seem very feminine for a girl. Sorry!
I don’t like it and I think there are much better Buddhist-related girl’s names, but I don’t see why not. I have yet to find any evidence that [name]Bodhi[/name] is actually used as a name in [name]Asian[/name] Buddhist cultures (I think, from what I’ve seen, it’s more of an American Buddhist name) and it is a tree, so I don’t think it’s etymologically any more male than [name]Willow[/name] or [name]Oak[/name].
The only [name]Bodhi[/name] I know is that girl from ‘[name]Dharma[/name] and [name]Greg[/name]’ is actually married to a man named [name]Bodhi[/name] in real life, but I say go for it.
I always think of [name]Bode[/name] [name]Miller[/name] (spelled this way, but pronounced the same way as Bohdi), who is a man. I think that the name is so uncommon/not well known that it could go either way.
It’s all boy to me, and in addition to possibly finding herself in a room with a male [name]Bodhi[/name], she’d also have to contend with kids named [name]Brody[/name] and [name]Cody[/name] and [name]Beau[/name]. What about [name]Boheme[/name] if you want to get to [name]Bo[/name]?
There are plenty of better girl names, it is very masculine and the poor kid won’t even have a feminine nn. I can’t picture a grown woman named [name]Bodhi[/name]
Why not [name]Lotus[/name], [name]Tara[/name], [name]Ananda[/name], [name]Deva[/name], [name]Chandra[/name], [name]Dharma[/name], [name]Nima[/name], or Tashi?
I know a little 3 year old girl named [name]Bodhi[/name] so I have no problem imagining it on a girl. I think it’s sweet and spunky, and is on trend with the scores of “ee” ending girl’s names that are popular right now, while still being unusual. Plus as you mentioned the meaning is wonderful.
I don’t have a problem with it on a girl at all, I just don’t like the name. As someone else mentioned the name doesn’t really seem to be used traditionally by Buddhists. It seems kind of like a trendy American thing to use it as a name, and for me that’s a turn off.
Well, honestly, she could if she wanted to. If she didn’t like the nn [name_u]Bo[/name_u], she could go by [name_f]DiDi[/name_f], which is also a pretty cute and more feminine nn.
I was just thinking about [name_m]Bodhi[/name_m] on a girl. I’ve met 2 little boys name [name_m]Bodhi[/name_m], another who spelled it [name_m]Bode[/name_m], and a girl who spelled it [name_m]Bodie[/name_m]. I find it gender neutral, but swings more towards the boys. I can picture a girl with the name [name_m]Bodhi[/name_m] though!
I’m the OP of this thread (different user name though) and we did in fact end up naming our eldest daughter [name_u]Bodhi[/name_u], and I’m happy we did, it suits her perfectly Nearly 8 years on I’m so happy to see that [name_u]Bodhi[/name_u] has now been officially added to nameberry as an option for girls too! YEA!
it seems like a mixed reaction which is interesting… so lots for us to ponder…
Nearly 8 years on I’m so happy to see that [name_u]Bodhi[/name_u] has now been officially added to nameberry as an option for girls too! YEA!