The name Bhadarwahi can be understood either in a narrow sense as referring to the dialect, locally known as Bhiḍlāi, native to the Bhadarwah valley, or in a broader sense to cover the group of related dialects spoken in the wider region where Bhadarwahi proper is used as a lingua franca.

In addition to Bhadarwahi proper, this group also includes Bhalesi, and Khasali (Khashali) dialect.

Variants include Bhaderwahi (𑚡𑚛𑚲𑚤𑚦𑚭𑚩𑚯),[3] Baderwali (𑚠𑚛𑚲𑚤𑚦𑚭𑚥𑚯), Bhadri (𑚡𑚛𑚤𑚯), Badrohi (𑚠𑚛𑚶𑚤𑚴𑚩𑚯), Bhadlayi (𑚡𑚛𑚥𑚭𑚣𑚯), and Bhadlai (𑚡𑚛𑚥𑚭𑚃).

It is classified by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as "definitely endangered," meaning that many Bhadarwahi parents are not teaching it to their children and the number of native speakers is decreasing.

This is a natural human tendency to pick up the language of people perceived as better off economically and/or socially.