Bonna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from Latin meaning "good".
Name Census estimates that about 359 living Americans carry the first name Bonna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bonna today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bonna births was 1928 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bonna. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bonna is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bonnas were born before 1962.
People living today
359
~ 1 in 954,747 Americans
Peak year
1928
43 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1981 SSA rank
#10,585
Tracked since 1914
Census
Bonna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 704 people with the first name Bonna, which placed it at #16,121 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,121
National first-name rank
People counted
704
704 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bonna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bonna is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%) and Black (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bonna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bonna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.2% · 593
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 60
- Black or African American4.3% · 30
- Two or more races1.3% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 6
Popularity
Bonna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bonna from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 255 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bonna by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bonna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bonnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Bonna, while New York, Missouri, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bonna
The name Bonna is believed to have its origins in the ancient Germanic language, dating back to around the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "bunnu," which means "high ground" or "hill." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals who lived in hilly or mountainous regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bonna can be found in the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century manuscript containing a translation of the Bible into Gothic. In this text, the name Bonna is mentioned as a personal name, suggesting its use among the Gothic people of the time.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Bonna appeared in various historical records and documents across Europe. In the 9th century, a Benedictine monk named Bonna von Fulda (c. 800 - c. 870) was a renowned scholar and teacher at the Fulda Monastery in Germany.
In the 12th century, Bonna de Castellione (c. 1120 - c. 1190) was a French noblewoman and the wife of Raoul I, Count of Vermandois. She played a significant role in the administration of the County of Vermandois during her husband's absence.
During the Renaissance period, Bonna Sforza (1494 - 1557) was an Italian princess and the daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of artists and scholars during her time.
In the 17th century, Bonna Corvina (1603 - 1671) was a Dutch poet and writer who gained recognition for her works in both Dutch and Latin. Her poetry often explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality.
Another notable figure with the name Bonna was Bonna Devi (1677 - 1753), a Hindu queen and the wife of Raja Jai Singh II of Amber (present-day Jaipur, India). She was known for her patronage of architecture and her involvement in the construction of several notable buildings, including the Jai Niwas Palace.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Bonna, highlighting its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods.
People
Bonna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bonna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bonna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bonna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 359 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bonna going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 954,747 US residents.
Is Bonna a common name?
We classify Bonna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,080 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bonna most popular?
The single biggest year for Bonna was 1928, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bonna is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bonna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 704 people with the name Bonna, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,121 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bonna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bonna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bonna leans strongly female. 688 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 15 male bearers (2.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bonna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bonna is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%) and Black (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bonna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bonna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (593 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bonna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bonna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bonna in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bonna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bonna in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bonna can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Bonna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.