Vonita
Derived from the Spanish name Bonita, meaning "beautiful" or "pretty one".
Name Census estimates that about 260 living Americans carry the first name Vonita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vonita today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vonita births was 1963 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vonita. 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.
People living today
260
~ 1 in 1,318,286 Americans
Peak year
1963
18 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1983 SSA rank
#12,026
Tracked since 1923
Census
Vonita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 306 people with the first name Vonita, which placed it at #29,088 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
#29,088
National first-name rank
People counted
306
306 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vonita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vonita is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Black (43.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Vonita 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 Vonita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.3% · 154
- Black or African American43.8% · 134
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 6
- Two or more races2.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Popularity
Vonita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vonita from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vonita 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 Vonita 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 Vonita
The name Vonita is a modern creation that appears to have originated in the English-speaking world, likely in the United States, in the late 19th or early 20th century. It does not seem to have any clear linguistic origins or roots in other languages or cultures.
It is possible that the name Vonita was inspired by or derived from the German name Vondel, which was a surname referring to someone who lived near a pond or pool of water. However, this connection is tenuous, and there is no definitive evidence linking the two names.
Vonita does not appear to have any significant historical references or mentions in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to the 20th century. This is likely due to its relatively recent creation and use as a given name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Vonita was Vonita McGee, an American actress born in 1942. She appeared in several films and television shows throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including "Blacula" and "Hammer."
Another notable person named Vonita was Vonita Munson, an American actress and model who lived from 1892 to 1965. She was a popular leading lady in silent films during the 1920s and worked with directors like D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille.
In the world of sports, Vonita Foster was an American basketball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. She played for the United States women's national basketball team and won a silver medal.
Vonita Willoughby was a pioneer in the field of nursing education. Born in 1928, she was the first African American to receive a doctorate in nursing from the University of Colorado and made significant contributions to improving healthcare for underserved communities.
Vonita Murray was an American singer and actress who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. She appeared in several films and television shows, including "The Buddy Holly Story" and "The Donna Reed Show."
While the name Vonita does not have a rich historical background or deep cultural roots, it has been used by several notable individuals in various fields, particularly in the United States during the 20th century.
People
Vonita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vonita as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vonita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vonita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 260 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vonita 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 1,318,286 US residents.
Is Vonita a common name?
We classify Vonita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 394 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vonita most popular?
The single biggest year for Vonita was 1963, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vonita is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vonita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 306 people with the name Vonita, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,088 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 Vonita 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 Vonita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vonita appears almost entirely female. Of the 304 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Vonita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vonita is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Black (43.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Vonita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vonita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (154 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 Vonita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vonita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vonita 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 Vonita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vonita 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 Vonita 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 Vonita?
Find out how many people share the name Vonita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.