Bonnye
An Americanized variant of the feminine French name Bonne, meaning "good".
Name Census estimates that about 158 living Americans carry the first name Bonnye. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bonnye today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bonnye births was 1948 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bonnye. 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 Bonnye is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bonnyes were born before 1961.
People living today
158
~ 1 in 2,169,331 Americans
Peak year
1948
23 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1969 SSA rank
#6,705
Tracked since 1918
Census
Bonnye in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 294 people with the first name Bonnye, which placed it at #29,893 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
#29,893
National first-name rank
People counted
294
294 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bonnye
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bonnye is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Bonnye 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 Bonnye at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.9% · 235
- Black or African American13.9% · 41
- Two or more races2.4% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 5
Popularity
Bonnye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bonnye from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 140 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
Bonnye 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 Bonnye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bonnyes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bonnye
The name Bonnye is an English feminine given name that originated in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "bon", meaning "good" or "pleasing". The name was likely bestowed upon girls born into affluent families, as it carried connotations of virtue, beauty, and grace.
In the late 12th century, the name Bonnye appeared in several medieval English ballads and poems, often used to describe fair maidens or noble ladies. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name can be found in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, where the character of the Wife of Bath is referred to as "Bonnye".
During the Renaissance period, the name Bonnye gained popularity among the aristocracy and gentry. Notably, Bonnye Fitzroy, the illegitimate daughter of King Henry VIII and his mistress Elizabeth Blount, was born in 1519. Although not officially recognized as a princess, Bonnye was raised in the royal court and received an education befitting her station.
In the 17th century, the name Bonnye was associated with several notable women in English history. Bonnye Donne, born in 1607, was the daughter of the renowned poet and cleric, John Donne. She was celebrated for her intelligence and literary pursuits.
The 18th century saw the rise of Bonnye Radcliffe, a prominent English traveler and author born in 1764. Her travelogues and journals documented her adventures across Europe and the Middle East, providing a unique perspective on the cultural and social landscapes of the time.
Another notable figure was Bonnye Nightingale, born in 1820, a pioneering nurse and social reformer in Victorian England. Inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale, she dedicated her life to improving healthcare and advocating for better living conditions for the poor and underprivileged.
While the name Bonnye has waned in popularity in recent decades, it remains a testament to the rich cultural heritage and historical significance of English given names. Its enduring legacy is a reflection of the virtues and achievements of the remarkable women who bore this name throughout the centuries.
People
Bonnye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bonnye 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
Bonnye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bonnye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 158 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bonnye 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 2,169,331 US residents.
Is Bonnye a common name?
We classify Bonnye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 364 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bonnye most popular?
The single biggest year for Bonnye was 1948, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bonnye is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bonnye in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 294 people with the name Bonnye, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,893 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 Bonnye 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 Bonnye?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bonnye leans strongly female. 287 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Bonnye?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bonnye is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Bonnye most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bonnye in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (235 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 Bonnye in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bonnye a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bonnye 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 Bonnye still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bonnye 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 Bonnye 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 are named Bonnye?
Want to know how many Americans are named Bonnye? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.