Dhanu Rashi Names — Baby Boy & Girl Names Starting with Ye, Yo, Bha, Bhi, Bhu, Dha, Pha, Dha, Bhe

Mula, Purva Ashadha and the first pada of Uttara Ashadha

Mula, whose name means root, opens the sign with Ye, Yo, Bha and Bhi. Its deity is Nirriti and its ruler Ketu, and its symbol is a bunch of tied roots. Purva Ashadha follows with Bhu, Dha, Pha and Dha. It belongs to Apah, the cosmic waters, is ruled by Venus and is pictured as a hand fan or winnowing basket. The first pada of Uttara Ashadha, the star of the Vishvedevas ruled by the Sun, gives the closing letter Bhe; the rest of Uttara Ashadha belongs to Makar.

Purva Ashadha has two letters that look alike in English. Its second pada is Dha with the dental aspirate of Dharma, and its fourth is Dha with the retroflex aspirate, a sound almost no name begins with. Only the Devanagari spelling tells them apart, so the Dhanu lists use it to check every Dh name.

The richest Dhanu letters

Bha, Bhi, Bhu and Bhe together give a large share of the list: Bharat, Bhaskar, Bhavesh, Bhavna, Bharati, Bhagyashree for Bha; Bhim and Bhishma for Bhi; Bhushan, Bhupendra, Bhumi and Bhumika for Bhu; Bhairavi and Bhairav for Bhe, since the opening bhai is heard as Bhe or Bha and both are Dhanu letters. The dental Dha supplies Dhananjay, Dharmesh, Dhanraj, Dhara and Dharini. Pha is small but has Phalguni.

The Y letters come from Mula. Ye begins few names, but Yo gives Yogesh, Yogendra, Yogita and Yogini. Names with Ya or Yu, such as Yash or Yuvraj, belong to Jyeshtha in Vrishchik rather than to Dhanu, which is a useful check when a list found elsewhere seems to mix the two.

A Jupiter sign and the choice of meaning

Jupiter, the lord of Dhanu, is the graha of teachers, scripture and right conduct, and the letters of the sign happen to include many names of virtue and devotion: Bhakti, Bhavya, Dharmesh. Families who like a meaning in keeping with the rashi lord have plenty to choose from, though nothing in the tradition requires it. The rule the namkaran sanskar does keep is that the janma nama starts with the akshar of the Moon's pada.

A baby born with the Moon in Purva Ashadha's fourth pada gets the retroflex Dha, which yields practically no names. Most families then choose a name from the same nakshatra's other letters, Bhu, Dha or Pha, or keep a short ceremonial name with the strict letter for the horoscope and give a separate everyday name. Both are long-standing practice.

Dhanu rashi versus the Sagittarius birthday

Someone born between late November and December is a Sagittarius in tropical sun-sign columns. Dhanu rashi for naming is a different measure: the Moon in sidereal Sagittarius, a stretch the Moon crosses in about two and a quarter days every month. A Dhanu rashi baby can arrive in any season, and the birth time and place are what reveal it.

What are the Dhanu rashi name letters?

Ye, Yo, Bha and Bhi from Mula; Bhu, Dha, Pha and Dha from Purva Ashadha; and Bhe from the first pada of Uttara Ashadha. The pada of the Moon at birth decides which one applies.

Why does Dhanu have two Dha letters?

Purva Ashadha's second pada is the dental Dha of Dharma, and its fourth is the retroflex Dha. They are different syllables in Devanagari; the second begins almost no names.

My baby was born in Mula nakshatra. Which letter should we use?

Mula's four padas give Ye, Yo, Bha and Bhi. The birth time fixes the pada; Yogesh or Yogita fit Yo, and Bharat or Bhavna fit Bha.

Is Yash a Dhanu rashi name?

No. Yash begins with Ya, a letter of Jyeshtha nakshatra in Vrishchik rashi. Dhanu's Y letters are Ye and Yo.

Is Dhanu rashi the same as Sagittarius?

No. Dhanu rashi for naming is the sidereal sign of the Moon at birth, while Sagittarius in sun-sign astrology is the tropical sign of the Sun by date.