How popular is the baby name Dharma in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Dharma.

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Popularity of the baby name Dharma


Posts that mention the name Dharma

What gave the baby name Dharma a boost in the late 1990s?

The character Dharma Montgomery from the TV series "Dharma & Greg" (1997-2002)
Dharma Montgomery from “Dharma & Greg“

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:

Image: Screenshot of Dharma & Greg

Baby names from the East: Bodhi, Shanti, Karuma, Zen

Buddha statue

Baby names like Zen and Bodhi have been on the rise lately, so I thought it would be fun to check out some of the other baby names that come from words we’re familiar with through Eastern thought and practices (e.g., Buddhism, yoga). Here are 50 examples I’ve spotted in the U.S. data.

I’ve only included simple/literal definitions, but most of these refer to larger concepts, actions, or things. They come from Sanskrit unless otherwise noted.

  • Advaita, “nondualism”
  • Akasha, “aether”
  • Amrita, “immortality” (or “elixir of immortality,” “nectar”)
  • Asana, “sitting posture”
  • Bhakti, “devotion”
  • Bindu, “point,” “dot”
  • Bodhi, “awakening,” enlightenment”
  • Bodhisattva, “one who seeks awakening”
  • Chanda, “intention,” “desire”
  • Darshan, “viewing”
  • Dharma, “right way of living”
  • Dhyana, “meditation”
  • Diksha, “initiation”
  • Drishti, “focused gaze”
  • Guru, “teacher”
  • Jhana, the Pali form of Dhyana
  • Karma, “action, “work” (past deeds)
  • Karuna, “compassion”
  • Koan, a paradoxical statement/question in Zen Buddhism
  • Kosha, “sheath”
  • Manas, “thought”
  • Mandala, “circle”
  • Mantra, a sacred utterance (syllable, word, or verse)
  • Maya, “magic,” “illusion”
  • Metta, “loving-kindness”
  • Moksha, “release,” “liberate”
  • Nikaya, “assemblage”
  • Nirvana, “blowing out” (ultimate spiritual goal in Buddhism)
  • Nyasa, “placing”
  • Ojas, “vigor”
  • Om, sacred syllable (Mantra)
  • Prajna, “wisdom”
  • Prakriti, “nature,” “source”
  • Rishi, a sage
  • Sadhana, “realization”
  • Samadhi, “total self-connectedness,” “a state of meditative absorption”
  • Samatha, “tranquility”
  • Samsara, “flowing around” (continuous cycle of rebirth)
  • Satori, Japanese, “spiritual awakening”
  • Satya, “truth”
  • Shakti, “power,” “energy”
  • Shanti, “inner peace”
  • Siddhi, a super-normal power
  • Sila, “right conduct”
  • Tendai, a Japanese Buddhist sect
  • Turiya, “fourth (state)”
  • Tantra, “loom”
  • Vidya, “knowledge”
  • Yogi, a practitioner of yoga
  • Zen, the Japanese form of Dhyana

Would you use any of the above as a baby name?

Sources: Sanskrit Top 40: Must-Learn Lingo for Yogis, 200 Key Sanskrit Yoga Terms, Buddhism – Wikipedia, The 3 Levels of Samadhi – Chopra Center, SSA

Image: Adapted from Seated Shaka (Cleveland Museum of Art) under CC0 1.0.