Damodara as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Damodara

What is the meaning of the name Damodara ?

The baby name Damodara is a Male name , 4 syllables long and is pronounced da-mo-da-ra (DAH-moh-DAH-rah); IAST: Dāmodara.

Damodara is Sanskrit in Origin.

Rooted in Sanskrit, Dāmodara (दामोदर) combines dāma “rope” and udara “belly,” signifying “the one with a rope around his waist.” In Vaishnava theology it is a beloved epithet of Krishna, recalling the Bhagavata Purana episode where Yashoda binds the mischievous child to a mortar; it also names Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranama. The title is celebrated in the Damodarāṣṭakam and prominently invoked during the lunar month of Kārtika, often called the Damodara month.

Used as a devotional given name from medieval bhakti circles to the present, it occurs across North and South India and Nepal, in temple records, hagiographies, and modern civil life. Common variants include Damodar (Hindi, Marathi, Nepali), Damodhar/Damodhara, and the South Indian forms Damodaran and Damodharan; IAST transliteration is Dāmodara. Related feminine forms such as Damodari exist but are rare. Meaning conveys humility, divine affection, and loving restraint.

⚙ Damodara is an uncommon pick. Across 14 countries, we found 59 recorded uses of it.