I have a firecracker of a three-year-old boy named [name]Bodhi[/name]. We are both thrilled about his baby sister due [name]March[/name] 30th, but I’m struggling with her name. We are a Buddhist-leaning family and I adore [name]Bodhi[/name]'s name for its meaning (basically ultimate enlightenment/awakening, but the word has some pretty awesome factoids if you want to wikipedia it), and I feel considerable pressure to choose a girl’s name that won’t pale in comparison! The only problem: my boy is a fair, pale, blue-eyed creature and I feel silly giving an exotic name to a very Scandinavian-looking kid, so all girly Buddhist names I’ve found are automatically out. The other option is a tree reference (aka the [name]Bodhi[/name] or [name]Bo[/name] Tree was a tree under which The Buddha found enlightenment). Any ideas??
[name]Bodhi[/name] and sister…
[name]Tenzin[/name] (the real name of the current Dalai Lama and used for both genders in Tibet)
[name]Karma[/name] (a person’s actions determines their destiny)
Llasa (capital of Tibet)
Potala (former palace of the Dalai Lamas)
Sonam
[name]Nima[/name]
Rinzen
Choden
Pema
Dechen
Tashi
Llamu
What about [name]Lotus[/name], or giving her a virtue name like [name]Patience[/name], [name]Charity[/name], [name]Hope[/name]?
I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Tenzin[/name], and I think that it’s a fantastic reccomendation for you. If you’re worried about about exotic name seeming potentially mismatched on a Scandinavian-looking child, a think that one of the positives of [name]Tenzin[/name] would be how similiar it is to the Cornish name [name]Tamsin[/name] (the s is pronounced like a z in Cornish).
What do you think of Sita? That would be simple and easily pronouncable. Bewitching Names has an interesting article on it:
I think that [name]Anjali[/name] is also incredibly gorgeous. Nameberry has it listed as a variant of [name]Angela[/name], which is absolutely wrong - it means “offering” in Sanskrit, but its similarity to [name]Angel[/name] or [name]Angela[/name] may make it a bit more familiar and easy to use.
EDIT: I just thought of another one - Saffron, which is used to dye Buddhist monks’ robes and in some places grown as an offering to Buddha. Saffy could be a nickname, which is rather similar to Sophie.
My birthday is march 30th!
Does [name]Laurel[/name] work?
Or
[name]Karma[/name]- A star
[name]Nima[/name]- [name]Sun[/name]
Pema- lotus
[name]Tenzin[/name]- protector of dharma
Sonam- the fortunate one; beautiful
[name]Aalia[/name]- Exalted
Acira- swift
Amala- the pure one
[name]Amara[/name]- immortal
[name]Anya[/name]- inexhaltable
[name]Arya[/name]- noble
Darha- the earth
[name]Ela[/name]- cardommon tree
Eta- luminous
[name]Gina[/name]- silvery
Hena- a flower
Iyla- moonlight
Juily- a flower
[name]Kali[/name]- a bud
Kalya- pleasant
[name]Lily[/name]- a flower
[name]Lola[/name]- goddess
[name]Lydia[/name]- happiness
[name]Maya[/name]- illusion
[name]Nadia[/name]- beginning
[name]Nita[/name]- well behaved
Prema- love
Surina- a goddess
[name]Tanya[/name]- of the family
[name]Xena[/name]- brave
[name]Zara[/name]- little
Ziana- bold
I’m not Buddhist so I don’t know whether these are right, but I got them off of indiaexpress.com
Good luck
I have a Buddhist friend and so I asked him for suggestions. He said:
Name – Meaning
Pema – [name]Lotus[/name]
[name]Tenzin[/name] – Protector of [name]Dharma[/name]
Charini – disciple
Tylanni –
He also said you can look to the vocabulary or the history to find a name. I’ll just copy it down as he sent it to me:
[name]Ananda[/name] – Buddha’s friend, cousin, and favorite disciple, and the monk who remembered the Sutras.
Asita – the astrologer who predicts Buddha’s fate
Citta – basic mind or consciousness
[name]Dharma[/name] (dhamma) – the teachings of the Buddha.
Dhyana – meditation.
[name]Indra[/name] – a major deva, originally the Hindu sky god.
[name]Karma[/name] (kamma) – intentional or willed act.
Karuna – compassion or mercy, the special kindness shown to those who suffer. One of the four brahma vihara.
Maitri – caring, loving kindness displayed to all you meet. One of the four brahma vihara.
[name]Marga[/name] – the path, track. The eightfold noble path. Fourth noble truth.
[name]Metta[/name] – [name]Pali[/name] for Maitri.
Samsara – the wheel of cyclic existence, birth-life-suffering-death-rebirth…
Satori – [name]Zen[/name] term for enlightenment. (I really like this one, it has the same meaning as [name]Bodhi[/name])
Shila – morality.
Taras – a set of 21 female saviors, born from Avalokiteshwara’s tears. [name]Green[/name] [name]Tara[/name] and White [name]Tara[/name] are the best known.
[name]Do[/name] you like any of those?
I think there are some Buddhist Girl names that don’t sound too exotic.
Tashi - [name]Prosperity[/name]
[name]Nima[/name] - [name]Sun[/name]
Sonam - Beautiful
Dohna - A female diety
Or some [name]Indian[/name] names.
[name]Maya[/name] - Illusion
[name]Salma[/name] - [name]Peace[/name]
Sabeena/[name]Sabina[/name] - Beautiful
[name]Anita[/name] - [name]Grace[/name]
[name]Asha[/name] - [name]Hope[/name]
[name]Yasmin[/name] - [name]Flower[/name]
[name]Leela[/name] - [name]Divine[/name] Play
[name]Anya[/name] - Inexhaustible
[name]Madina[/name] - [name]Land[/name] of beauty
[name]Panya[/name] - Admired, Excellent
Suggestions:
[name]Chandra[/name]
Tulsi
:)!
I was going to suggest [name]Lotus[/name], but sko beat me to it. I met a toddler by that name this past summer. I’ve also known a blond haired, blue eyed girl (now an adult) by the name of Priyanka, a variation of [name]Priya[/name], which is so beautiful! And I’m planning on using the name [name]Veda[/name] if my baby, due in [name]May[/name], is a girl. I’m white, hubby is black, so she would be somewhere in between, but certainly won’t have east [name]Indian[/name] features.
Go with the name you love, and try not to worry what image people will have for a girl with that particular name. Once they meet your daughter they will have her as the association with it, and it won’t matter what she looks like!!
Other suggestions I like: [name]Nima[/name] and [name]Tenzin[/name]!!
[name]Dharma[/name] & [name]Bodhi[/name]. Perfect!
[name]Bodhi[/name] and [name]Zen[/name] would be so amazing, what a cool name with awesome meaning too.
I’d caution you against anything super literal (like [name]Karma[/name] or something) because you already have a [name]Bodhi[/name]. To me, it comes across as a bit cheesy, and if your child doesn’t share your Buddhist philosophy when she grows up, she might not appreciate her name. I think subtlety is the way to go here. You did a great job with [name]Bodhi[/name]- the name is undeniably Buddhist, but mainstream enough that it’s wearable for anyone.
[name]Maya[/name] was my first thought. Like [name]Bodhi[/name], it’s universally wearable. It sounds like Mahayana, but isn’t it literally. The only problem may be that I don’t know that [name]Maya[/name] itself is Buddhist- I know that it’s a concept in Hinduism and that the two share many similarities, but I’m not sure that it actually exists in Buddhism (you, of course, would know better than me.)
[name]Lila[/name] ([name]LEE[/name]-la) was my second thought. Same positives as [name]Maya[/name], but same problem.
[name]Tenzin[/name] crossed my mind as well. This is a bit less familiar, but I think it’s wearable.
Tree names are a bit easier for me:
[name]Willow[/name]
[name]Sequoia[/name]
[name]Acacia[/name]
[name]Holly[/name]
[name]Magnolia[/name]
[name]Laurel[/name]
[name]Juniper[/name]
[name]Linnea[/name]
[name]Tamar[/name]
[name]Ash[/name] (ley? ton?)
[name]Hazel[/name]
I think the name Satori is beautiful, as suggested above. We’re also considering it for our daughter who is due 4/8
What did you decide?
My wife and I also have a son named [name_m]Bodhi[/name_m] (now 2!) and i found your thread while researching possible names for his upcoming brother (due in 2-3 weeks). If only your 2nd were a boy, i’d have a ready-made list!
[name_f]Love[/name_f] the ideas here, and would love to hear where you landed.
My favorites were:
[name_f]Lotus[/name_f]
[name_f]Lila[/name_f] (“lee-la”, means the “play” that was done in [name_u]Krishna[/name_u]'s realm of gopis, more Hindu than Buddhist but still joyous)
[name_u]Krishna[/name_u] - my friends daughter is named this, and it’s gorgeous. Call her kris, [name_f]Krissy[/name_f], or [name_m]Krish[/name_m] for short.
[name_f]Saffron[/name_f]- after the buddhist robe color
[name_f]Mercy[/name_f] - in honor of Guan Yin, Buddhist goddess of mercy
Prana – for the qi/chi energy and feminine
Tao – “the way”
Yinnie --appropriately, the “yin” to bodhi’s “yang”
[name_f]Lotus[/name_f], as others mentioned, is a good one
[name_f]Anjali[/name_f] – I know a blond hair blue eyed [name_f]Anjali[/name_f], call her [name_u]Ange[/name_u] or Anj for short
Sutra – how great is this one!! Call her [name_f]Sue[/name_f] as a nickname.
Satya – Sati for nickname