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.

Names with “True” as a nickname

names with the nickname True

Let’s say you like the idea of the name True…but you’d prefer that it be a nickname as opposed to a legal name.

Which names out there can be shortened to the nickname “True”?

Let’s start with the most popular options. Each of these saw enough usage last year to be included in the 2018 baby name data, though none of them were common enough to make the top 1,000:

  • Truman comes from an English surname that was originally a nickname for a trustworthy man (trewe means “faithful, trustworthy” in Middle English).
  • Truett & Truitt are also English surnames. They were derived from the place name Trewhitt, which is thought to be made up of the Old Norse word tyri, “resinous pine-wood,” and the Old English word wiht, “river bend.”
  • Gertrude can be traced back to the Germanic words ger, “spear,” and trut, “beloved, dear” — though some sources say the second element is thrud, meaning “strength.” Variant forms include Gertrud and Gertrudis.
  • Trudy & Trudie are diminutive forms of Gertrude or any other –trud(e) name, such as Ermintrude, Hiltrude, or Irmtrude.

The names below have been in the data historically, but none made the cut last year specifically. In fact, several are one-hit wonders.

EtruliaOrtrude*TrubyTrucilla
TrudaTrudellTrudenceTrudis*
TrudithTruelTrulaTruma
TrumaineTrunellTrunettaTrusha

Which of the –tru– names above do you like best?

*Just so happens that Ortrude and Trudis were both 1916 one-hit wonders inspired by literature.

Unusual political names in Connecticut

Political map of the USA, 1956

James A. Bill (1817-1900) of Lyme, Connecticut, served in the Connecticut state senate in 1852 and 1853 and in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1849 and 1867. He also happened to be a rare pro-slavery Northerner in the years before and during the Civil War. This fact is reflected in the names of the last three children:

  1. Elizabeth
  2. Phoebe
  3. Mary
  4. Rebecca
  5. Lodowick
  6. James
  7. Kansas Nebraska (born in July, 1855)
  8. Lecompton Constitution (b. October, 1857)
  9. Jefferson Davis (b. February, 1862)

Kansas Nebraska Bill was named after the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, but also allowed the territories to decide for themselves whether or not they would permit slavery (the “popular sovereignty” principle).

Lecompton Constitution Bill was named after the Lecompton Constitution (1857), a proposed pro-slavery constitution for the state of Kansas that was defeated early the next year.

And Jefferson Davis Bill was, of course, named after Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy throughout the Civil War.

Their older brother, Lodowick, inherited his interesting first name from James’s father. The name Lodowick — like Louis, Ludwig, and Luigi — can be traced back to the Germanic name Chlodovech, which consists of the elements hlud, meaning “famous, loud” and wig, meaning “war, battle.”

P.S. Other notable Civil War-era baby names include Emancipation Proclamation (“Prockie”), Gettysburg (“Gettie”), Kenesaw Mountain, and Elmer Ellsworth.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Reynolds’s Political Map of the United States 1856

Bizarre baby names in Paraguay

A few months ago, the government of Paraguay released a long list of rare-but-real Paraguayan baby names. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Amorcito, “sweetheart”
  • Dublina, “Dublin”
  • Exaltacion de la Cruz, “exaltation of the cross”
  • Killbroy Killer
  • Lluvia de Oro, “golden rain”
  • Linda Pelusa, “cute fluff”
  • Mamerto, “idiot”
  • Mística Paloma, “mystic dove”
  • Optimosprayn, inspired by the character Optimus Prime
    • His full name is Optimusprayn Ismael Meza Barboza (b. 1999). On his 16th birthday he got an Autobot insignia tattooed on his neck (his parents were not pleased about this). He said that, in the future, he wants to have two sons: one named for him, the other named Rodimus Prime, “como el hermano perdido de Optimus Prime” (like the lost brother of Optimus Prime).
  • Por Fin Bienvenido Carajo, “finally welcome f*ck”
    • His full name is Por Fin Bienvenido Carajo Rapetti. He was his father’s 15th child, but very first son — this is essentially the explanation for his name. Several of his sisters received similar names. One was Paciencia Contra el Destino, “patience against destiny,” and another was Seguiremos Inisistiendo, “we’ll keep trying.” Their names were later changed to Elvira and Chula, respectively.
  • Santa Primitiva, “holy primitive”
  • Tecla, “key”

Sources: Registro del Estado Civil de Paraguay (Facebook), Conocé la historia de este joven, que se llama “OPTIMOSPRAYN”, Nombres Insólitos en Paraguay (video, via Daniel Edwards)