boy's name
Bodhi
BOH-dee
- Origin Sanskrit
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 21,694
the United States
#265
2025 births
Bodhi is a boy's name of Sanskrit origin meaning "awakening" or "enlightenment." It is the state the Buddha attained, and the Bodhi tree is the fig under which he attained it.
- Bodhi is a name of Sanskrit origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,331 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,491 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1976.
Bodhi over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 15 |
| 1990s | 156 |
| 2000s | 807 |
| 2010s | 6,559 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,317 |
What Bodhi means
Bodhi means awakening — the moment of understanding rather than a quality of the person. In Buddhist usage it names a specific attainment, which makes it unusual among given names.
Where Bodhi comes from
Bodhi is the Sanskrit and Pali word for awakening, from the root budh, to wake or to know — the same root behind Buddha, meaning the awakened one. The Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in Bihar is the sacred fig under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have attained enlightenment, and a descendant of it still stands there. Use of the word as a personal name is Western and recent, part of a broader adoption of Sanskrit and Buddhist vocabulary that also produced Zen, Karma and Nirvana as names.
Bodhi in use
Our data shows Bodhi peaking in 2025 — still climbing — and first appearing in our records in 1976, which places its arrival with the Western interest in Buddhism rather than with any older tradition of use. The 1991 film Point Break, whose surfer antagonist is named Bodhi, gave it a second and very different association.
How popular is Bodhi?
In 2025, Bodhi was given to 1,331 babies in the United States, ranking #265 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Bodhi is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Bodhi is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Bodhí | Bodhí is a rare spelling of Bodhi, written with a fada and recorded 4 times, mostly in Ireland. | 4 |
Names that peaked alongside Bodhi
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Bodhi also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Bodhi over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Bodhi
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Bodhi in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Bodhi
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Bodhi — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Bodhi
What does the name Bodhi mean?
Bodhi means "awakening" or "enlightenment," from the Sanskrit root budh, to wake.
What is the Bodhi tree?
The sacred fig at Bodh Gaya under which the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. A descendant of it still stands.
Is Bodhi related to Buddha?
Yes — both come from the root budh. Buddha means the awakened one; bodhi is the awakening itself.
How popular is the name Bodhi?
In 2025, Bodhi was given to 1,331 babies in the United States, ranking #265 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Bodhi a girl's or a boy's name?
Bodhi is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Bodhi most popular?
Bodhi peaked in 2025, when 1,331 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Bodhi?
Bodhi is usually shortened to Bo.
Is Bodhi a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Bodhi currently ranks #115 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.