Bodhi
Enlightenment or awakening, originally a Sanskrit word.
Name Census estimates that about 13,410 living Americans carry the first name Bodhi. It sits at #302 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (96.1% of registrations). The average person named Bodhi today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bodhi births was 2021 (1,274 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bodhi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bodhi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Bodhi is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 530 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Bodhi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 25,560 Americans
Peak year
2021
1,274 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#302
Tracked since 1976
Census
Bodhi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,243 people with the first name Bodhi, which placed it at #3,055 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,055
National first-name rank
People counted
7.2K
7,243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bodhi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bodhi is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (14.2%) and Hispanic (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bodhi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bodhi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 5,026
- Two or more races14.2% · 1,029
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 801
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 313
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 40
- Black or African American0.5% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Bodhi
Bodhi leans heavily male at 96.1% of total registrations, but 530 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bodhi as a male name
- Ranked #302 in 2024
- 1,110 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (1,220 births)
Bodhi as a female name
- Ranked #3,963 in 2024
- 37 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (68 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bodhi leans strongly male. 6,940 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 299 female bearers (4.1%).
Popularity
Bodhi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bodhi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,558 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bodhi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bodhi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bodhis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Bodhi, while Wyoming, North Dakota, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 237 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bodhi
The name Bodhi has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient classical language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "bodhi," which means "awakening" or "enlightenment." The name gained prominence in Buddhist traditions, where it refers to the state of enlightenment achieved by Gautama Buddha under the bodhi tree.
In Buddhist scriptures and texts, the term "bodhi" is used extensively to describe the profound spiritual awakening experienced by the Buddha. The name Bodhi is closely associated with the Buddha's journey towards enlightenment and his teachings that guide followers to attain the same state of spiritual liberation.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Bodhi can be found in the Pali Canon, a collection of Buddhist scriptures that date back to the 5th century BCE. The Bodhi tree, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, is also mentioned in various Buddhist texts and has become a significant symbol in the Buddhist faith.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Bodhi. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Bodhi Dharma (circa 470-543 CE), a Buddhist monk who is credited with introducing Chan Buddhism (Zen Buddhism) to China. He is revered as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism and is an influential figure in the development of Zen practices.
Another notable figure was Bodhi Raza (1593-1670), a Sufi saint and poet from present-day Pakistan. He is renowned for his spiritual teachings and his contribution to the Sufi literature of the region.
In more recent times, Bodhi Prajna (1923-2005) was a prominent Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar who played a significant role in reviving Buddhism in China after the Cultural Revolution.
Bodhi Gaya, a city in the Indian state of Bihar, is also named after the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. It is a renowned pilgrimage site for Buddhists from around the world and is home to the Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Other notable individuals who have borne the name Bodhi include Bodhi Oser (born 1976), an American film director and writer, and Bodhi Elfman (born 1969), an American actor and producer.
While the name Bodhi has its roots in Buddhism, it has gained popularity in various cultures and communities around the world, particularly among those who appreciate its spiritual connotations and the values of enlightenment and wisdom it represents.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bodhi
People
Bodhi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bodhi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bodhi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bodhi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bodhi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 25,560 US residents.
Is Bodhi a common name?
We classify Bodhi as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,510 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bodhi most popular?
The single biggest year for Bodhi was 2021, when 1,274 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bodhi is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bodhi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,243 people with the name Bodhi, or 2.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,055 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bodhi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bodhi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bodhi leans strongly male. 6,940 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 299 female bearers (4.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bodhi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bodhi is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (14.2%) and Hispanic (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bodhi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bodhi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (5,026 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bodhi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bodhi a male name?
Yes, 96.1% of people registered as Bodhi in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bodhi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bodhi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bodhi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Bodhi as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.