Opinions on Bodhi?

[rachelhobson]

opinions on the name Bodhi for a boy please

My first thought was that it's pronounced bogi as a dh in scottish Gaelic gives a g sound (I think) so it wouldn't be my first choice :)

I don’t think dh gives a g sound - it doesn’t in Ruaridh at least

In Scottish Gaelic, dh gives a faint 'yuh' sound, as in 'buidhe' (blue) = (approx) boo-yuh.
The letters 'idh' at the end of a word are often pronounced 'ih', as in Ruairidh above.

I think it's one of those names that has a definite genuine heritage

It’s not a name with genuine heritage unless you think 90s surfer culture counts

It’s a lovely name if you are fascinated with Buddhist/hippie culture though.

GTFO with cultural appropriation, whatever happened to cultural appreciation?

In my language, this means bra.

I like it, but then I fit the mould for these types of names - I was a surfer back in the 90s my youth, sadly my DH is too conservative for names like this.

Honestly there is a lot of snobbery when it comes to names on MN.

Makes me think of a new age fusion hippy Buddhist type.

This name perfectly illustrates the perils of cultural appropriation.

You know the LITERAL Sanskrit meaning, which a previous poster quoted.

However, Sanskrit hasn’t been a spoken language for at least a thousand years.

The modern usage is entirely ironic: ‘bodh’ is mostly used in the same way as “moron” or “eejit” or “dickhead”. The Mumsnetter above who said her Indian husband had never heard of its use in India now knows why

And it sounds nothing like ‘Bodie’ either

I’m still laughing about this. The Indians in Australia must be PTSL at those surfer dudes

" Are you coming across 40 year old Jasons who are traumatised that their name is not currently on trend."

However, Sanskrit hasn’t been a spoken language for at least a thousand years.

Not true actually, it IS still taught, albeit in a very small minority, but it’s a historic language and is probably used much like the West uses Latin.

There’s a village in south India where Sanskrit is spoken.

There are a LOT of Indians who claim Sanskrit is their first language or mother tongue. Again, it helps to be culturally attuned as well as able to read Wikipedia - it’s exactly like the number of people who claimed their religion was Jedi in the last census. Pseudo-political, if you like. BJP politicians are behind it.

Yes, to the poster above who likened it to Latin. We learn it because it is a liturgical language and also a high status one.

Hate it sorry

Again, it helps to be culturally attuned as well as able to read Wikipedia - it’s exactly like the number of people who claimed their religion was Jedi in the last census.

Really? I’m aware of BJP tactics, but are you are saying this is a hoax:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-30446917

That’s what I was referring to in my post.

MM19 What you say is very interesting. I was just going to ask - before another poster mentioned it - whether Sanskrit today was analogous to Latin. Do names with Sanskrit roots have the same religious overtones as certain Latin names do in Europe- eg connections with popes or saints? Or all most of them, like Bodhi, used ironically?

This is not quite the same point, but is related to the whole issue of cultural norms and interpretations. As someone living in Highland Scotland, I can never really understand why anyone would want to name a girl child 'Piper'. That, to me, means (typically) a man with well-developed lungs wearing a kilt and playing traditional or military music. Because of the culture that surrounds me, it's an instant picture in the mind's eye whn I hear the word. There must of course be other examples in other places/cultures....

Please excuse missing /autocorrect words -am typing too fast:

para 1 last line 'or all most' should b 'or are most'
para 2 last line but one 'whn' should be 'when'

Just give kids names that won't look weird on cv's! Two of DD's friends changed their names by deed poll on their 18th birthday, another goes by her middle name. However cute it is for a baby or unusual or lovely sounding to you now, that baby will be 18, checking into halls of residence and they are saddled with that name unless they pluck up the courage to tell you they hate it (one of DD's aforementioned friends has been cut off completely by her mother due to changing her name, it was an a really horrible name!)

Give them a cutesy nickname instead

No

stuck, unfortunately what recruiters think looks ‘weird’ on a CV has a large component of ethnic bias and discrimination. Do we all, regardless of our ethnicity or nationality, call our children Jack and Sophie for fear of the ‘weird’- fearing recruiter thinking that Jack’s CV is better than Jumoke’s identical one?

I know someone who has just named their child this ... everyone is saying what a pain in the arse it will be for her son,to have to spell his name out for the rest of his life.

Katherine I hope this isn't you.sorry

@GCacademic - What is the point you’re trying to make? It clearly states in the article you quote that the village have taken a localised (slightly eccentric, certainly politicised) decision to revive spoken Sanskrit. I’m sure there are remote villagers in England trying to do the same with Cornish, but it’s a few individuals trying to assert themselves, not the natural evolution or continued usage of the language.

I’d also be wary of quoting the BBC and its Muslim correspondent on matters Hindu or village-centric.They seem to enjoy the savages being studied by Dr Livingstone angle when it comes to analysis of foreign parts.

Bodie and Doyle (also old)

@Flora yes, Sanskrit religious names remain so, although you get regional variations.

Other words and names may have Sanskrit roots but their meanings may have changed over time, or they may have stayed the same - language change occurs in every living language I believe, although I’m no expert.