Already have an account?
Get back to the

What’s in a Name? Oliver Hudson’s Son, Bodhi Hawn

1270061323_oliver hudson bartlett 290

Nameberry.com editors Pamela Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz — who penned the books Baby Name Bible and Beyond Ava & Aiden– are blogging for UsMagazine.com about why celebs choose the names they do, and what they mean.

Goldie Hawn's third grandson, Bodhi Hawn Hudson, was born on March 23 to son Oliver Hudson and wife Erinn Bartlett.

This choice was diametrically different from the names of the previous two boys in the family: Oliver's son, Wilder, and sister Kate Hudson's, Ryder, a matched pair of energetic, macho names. Bodhi is soft and spiritual.

Bodhi is a Sanskrit name translated as "enlightenment" or "awakening" and is associated with Buddhism. In early times, it was synonymous with the state of nirvana, being freed from hate, greed and ego.  The Bodhi tree is a large fig tree under which the founder of Buddhism received enlightenment.

One of the first public figures in the U.S. to bear the name was Bodhi Elfman, husband of Jenna, who starred in another sitcom with a Buddhism-related name, Dharma & Greg.  Since then it has been used by Amy Brenneman for her son, and by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio as the middle name for his boy, Luka.  And Goldie Hawn isn't the only Bodhi grandparent — she joins Carly Simon and James Taylor, who also have a grandson named Bodhi via daughter Sally Taylor.

As opposed to some other religious and spiritual names, Bodhi has an upbeat, friendly feel, similar to that of Brody and Cody.

In using his mother's maiden name for his son's middle, Oliver Hudson became part of a growing celeb trend of incorporating family history into offsprings' names — though most parents use the mother's, rather than the grandmother's, maiden name.  Among the celebrity moms who have passed along their own maiden names: Anne Heche (son Atlas Heche), Maura West (daughter Birdie West), Camila Alves (Levi Alves), Ellen Pompeo (Stella Luna Pompeo), and Bryce Dallas Howard (Theodore Norman Howard). Danielle Spencer and Russell Crowe did it twice, with sons Tennyson Spencer and Charles Spencer.


In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!