Bonne
A feminine French name meaning "good" or "kind".
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Bonne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bonne today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bonne births was 1951 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bonne. 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 Bonne is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bonnes were born before 1966.
People living today
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1951
21 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1987 SSA rank
#9,974
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Bonne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bonne from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 139 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bonne 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 Bonne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bonne
The name Bonne is a French feminine given name derived from the Old French word "bon," meaning "good" or "virtuous." It originated in the Middle Ages and was initially used as an epithet or descriptive name to signify a person's positive qualities.
The earliest recorded use of Bonne as a given name can be traced back to the 12th century in France. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Bonne of Savoy (1275-1300), a French noblewoman who married Philip III of France and served as Queen of France from 1285 until her death.
In the 13th century, Bonne de Luxembourg (1308-1349) was a prominent figure in European history. She was the daughter of King John of Bohemia and became the first wife of King John II of France. Her name was often spelled as "Bonne" or "Bona" in various historical records.
Another notable bearer of the name was Bonne of Berry (1362-1435), a French princess and Duchess of Berry. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her significant influence in the French court during the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
In the 16th century, Bonne Leszdynska (1520-1569) was a Polish noblewoman who married King Sigismund I of Poland and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania. Her name is sometimes spelled as "Bona" in historical records.
During the 17th century, Bonne de Pons d'Haucourt (1617-1670) was a French aristocrat and author who wrote several works on moral and religious topics. Her name was often spelled as "Bonne" or "Bona" in her published works.
Throughout history, the name Bonne has been associated with virtuous and admirable qualities, reflecting its origins as a descriptive name. While it has not been as widely used as some other French names, it has maintained a presence in various regions and time periods, particularly among the nobility and upper classes.
People
Bonne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bonne 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
Bonne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bonne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bonne 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Bonne a common name?
We classify Bonne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bonne most popular?
The single biggest year for Bonne was 1951, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bonne is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bonne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bonne 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.
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.