Fun Facts About the Name Bodey
- 642 babies named Bodey: U.S. records list 642 babies given the name Bodey from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Bodey Mean?
Bodey is a variant spelling of the English surname Bodie or Boddy, and the usual explanation traces it to a medieval personal name. Old English boda and Old Norse boði, close cousins from the same Germanic root, both mean "messenger" or "herald," and names of this type were used as bynames in England and Scandinavia. On that derivation, the literal sense of the name is "messenger."
A second explanation, offered for some instances of the surname Boddy, treats it as a nickname from Middle English bodi ("body"), but it is unclear how many families this actually accounts for. Because the surname has several regional spellings, the origin of any single Bodey line cannot be pinned down. Bodey is not related to the Sanskrit name Bodhi ("awakening"), which is a separate name that merely sounds similar.
Bodey Name History & Origins
The personal names behind the surname appear in the Middle Ages: Boda in England and Boði in Scandinavia, both built on the old word for a messenger or herald. As hereditary surnames spread in England from roughly the 13th century, forms such as Bode and Boddy appear, and spellings ending in -y or -ey grew up alongside them. These endings can come from a diminutive habit or from ordinary variation in how clerks wrote the same spoken name.
Bodey is documented as a surname spelling in the United States in the 19th century. The California gold-rush camp of Bodie, now a ghost town, was named after the prospector William S. Bodey, and his surname was written both Bodey and Bodie before the town settled on the spelling Bodie. Bodey and Bodie are also used today as given names in English-speaking countries, where the spelling often reflects a phonetic respelling of the surname.
How Popular is the Name Bodey?
Bodey has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #2,841 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,841 | 44 | 0.0026% |
| 2024 | #4,073 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 2023 | #3,061 | 40 | 0.0023% |
| 2022 | #3,895 | 28 | 0.0016% |
| 2021 | #4,028 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 2020 | #3,825 | 27 | 0.0016% |
| 2019 | #5,183 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2018 | #4,004 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 2017 | #4,766 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2016 | #4,491 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2015 | #3,157 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 2014 | #4,027 | 25 | 0.0013% |
| 2013 | #4,486 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2012 | #5,058 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2011 | #3,613 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 2010 | #2,876 | 41 | 0.0021% |
| 2009 | #4,296 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 2008 | #4,412 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 2007 | #4,826 | 19 | 0.0009% |
| 2006 | #3,799 | 26 | 0.0013% |
| 2005 | #5,602 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2004 | #7,592 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #4,296 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2002 | #3,926 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2001 | #10,757 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #6,368 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1999 | #5,697 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1994 | #7,879 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #8,848 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1992 | #8,565 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Bodey Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
You find the best contentment in life when you own your own home and provide well for your family and loved ones. You have a great sense of responsibility and duty. You are comforting, appreciative and affectionate. Your obligation in life is to hold justice and truth, and if you follow the Law, you can find the great happiness and satisfaction.
✦ Bodey's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Bodey's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.