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Bhavani

Girls' name

From Sanskrit भवानी; literal meaning unconfirmed

Bhavani has been given to 23 babies in the U.S. since 1996. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1996, with 7 recorded.

Babies named Bhavani, 2011

1 in 732,000

Bhavani over time, 1880–2025

Girls
0246818801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Bhavani: meaning, origin, and history

From Sanskrit भवानी; literal meaning unconfirmed

Sanskrit

What Bhavani means

Bhavani is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Bhavani is used in English. Its origins include Sanskrit.

Bhavani comes through Sanskrit भवानी.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 23 girls were recorded with the name Bhavani between 1996 and 2011. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1996; its best national rank was #10,712 in 1996.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Bhavani?

Bhavani had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2011, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2011
1 in 732,000
5 of 3,657,935 births
Among girls only
1 in 352,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2011
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
507,099 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Bhavani sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2011 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 507,099 children born in 2011 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bhavani. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Bhavanis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bhavani was born before 2004 — so the typical Bhavani is around 21 today.

Median birth year
2004
About 21 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
47.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
23
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 47.8% of all recorded uses (11).

Is Bhavani rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1996 (7)
Years since peak
29
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Not enough data
Too few years
Best rank ever
#10,712
1996

Spellings of Bhavani

Bhavani is not the most common spelling — Avani is, with 37.2% against Bhavani's 0.20%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Bhavani around the world

Where Bhavani ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • France
    2023–2023
    #6,398
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1993–1999
    #729
    in 1999

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Bhavani by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#10,712
1996
Peak year
1996
7 that year
First recorded
1996
Last recorded
2011
All-time count
23
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Bhavani

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

BhaviniZaelaniXiolaniTaelaniZahlaniXailaniZurmaniZairaniKhilaniRuemaniZiamaniZhalaniCehlaniRailaniKahmaniNoalaniZyalaniAhilaniRubaaniYulianiKeelaniLaiyaniAylianiKelhani

Sibling names for Bhavani

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Bhavani

Top names of 1996, Bhavani's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1996Girls' names starting with B