what is the name of the oriental goddess with many (12+/-) arms, often
shown outstreched. The name starts with a b, and sounds like
bodysoffala or something similiar

Hello dcgman1 and thank you for your question.

Well this turned out to be fairly tricky to track down, but I am
pleased to say that I have found the name you require, it is
"Bodhisattva" (also known as Avalokitesvara)  You can see a picture
here:
http://www.buddhisttemple.org/tour/statues.htm
It is the middle picture of the three (click on the picture for a larger image)

There is also another image here: http://www.bodhi.nl/image16.htm

Also here: http://www.terragalleria.com/asia/china/leshan/picture.chin5050.html

Further notes:

"the Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva or Avalokitesvara"
"There are many different statues of Kannon Bodhisattva, having one
face, three faces, eleven faces, two arms, six arms, one thousand arms
etc. Each face is different, and each arm holds different symbolic
objects because each person has different desires to be fulfilled."
http://lotus.nichirenshu.org/lotus/lectures/lotus_25.htm

Thank you for your question, and if you need any clarification of my
answer do not hesitate to ask.

Very best regards

THX1138

Search strategy included:
"godess with * arms"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_qdr=all&q=%22goddess+with+*+arms%22&btnG=Search

The answer given above is not really accurate. 'Bodhisattva' is a
title, not a name. A Bodhisattva is an emanation of the Buddha (though
they often existed as local deities before the arrival of Buddhism in
their region). There are lots of them. This particular one has various
names. She is called Avolikiteswara in Tibet (where she is usually
depicted with the usual number of arms, and sometimes as a youthful
male). In China she is known as Kwan Yin (also transliterated as Kuan
Yin, Gwan Yin or Quan Yin). Here she usually has just the one pair of
arms. In Japan she is known as Kannon or Kwannon. This is the version
that has either two, eleven or a thousand arms. Try a Google search
for the Japanese goddess to find out more.
Regards, 
Amber

Hello amber00.

To be fair, my task as researcher on this question was to find the
"name"/"title" of that "oriental goddess with many (12+/-) arms" that
sounds like "Bodhisattva" Which I did.  The questioner was not asking
for a religious explanation of the various names (or titles)of
eminations of Buddha, as clearly the questioner didn't know that
Bodhisattva was an emanation of the Buddha.  Having said that, as you
can see in my answer I did include additional information about
Bodhisattva or Avalokitesvara for the questioners added interest.

Best regards

THX1138