After popping up in the U.S. baby name data a few times during the ’60s and ’70s, the name Dharma re-appeared in 1997 and reached peak usage the very next year:
- 2000: 53 baby girls named Dharma
- 1999: 55 baby girls named Dharma
- 1998: 68 baby girls named Dharma (peak usage)
- 1997: 9 baby girls named Dharma
- 1996: unlisted
- 1995: unlisted
What brought the name back?
The sitcom Dharma & Greg, which began airing on television in September of 1997.
Character Dharma Finkelstein (played by Jenna Elfman) was a “dog-training, yoga-teaching free spirit” raised by hippies. In the pilot episode, she met — and impulsively married — “button-down, anal-retentive Ivy League lawyer” Greg Montgomery (played by Thomas Gibson).
Regarding her name, Dharma explained: “My dad was Jewish, but he wished he was the Dalai Lama.”
In Buddhism, the term dharma refers to the true nature of reality as taught by the Buddha. (The concept of dharma is taught in the other Indic religions as well, but each religion defines the term differently.)
What are your thoughts on Dharma as a baby name?
P.S. Jenna Elfman’s real-life husband, actor Bodhi Elfman, also happens to have a name inspired by Buddhism. The term bodhi is often defined as “awakening” or “enlightenment.”
Sources:
- Dharma & Greg – Wikipedia
- Richmond, Ray. “Dharma and Greg.” Variety 22 Sept. 1997.
- Dharma – Wikipedia
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of Dharma & Greg