Find out how popular the last name Bonahoom is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bonahoom.

Bonahoom, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bonahoom surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bonahoom in America

Bonahoom is the 113791st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bonahoom surname appeared 154 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bonahoom.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bonahoom to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bonahoom

The surname BONAHOOM is believed to have originated in the Netherlands, likely during the 16th or 17th century. It is thought to be derived from the Dutch words "bonne" meaning "good" and "hoom" which is an archaic term for a small village or hamlet. Thus, the name may have originally referred to someone who hailed from a prosperous or desirable small town.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the BONAHOOM name appears in a Dutch municipal record from the city of Delft in 1612, where a Willem BONAHOOM is listed as a resident. The name also crops up in various church records and tax rolls from the same general region and time period, sometimes spelled slightly differently as BONNEHOOM or BONNAHOOM.

During the 17th century, a BONAHOOM family established themselves as landowners and wealthy merchants in the province of Zeeland. Nicolaas BONAHOOM (1635-1701) was a prominent trader and ship owner based in the city of Middelburg. His grandson, Pieter BONAHOOM (1679-1742), was a respected lawyer and judge in the same area.

As the Dutch established colonial outposts around the world in the 1600s and 1700s, the BONAHOOM name began to spread. Jan BONAHOOM (1721-1789) was a sailor and explorer who spent many years charting the waters around the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia). He is credited with being the first European to map several small islands in that region.

In the 19th century, a branch of the family emigrated to South Africa after the British took control of the Dutch Cape Colony. One notable member was Daniel BONAHOOM (1832-1907), a farmer and politician who served on the parliament of the Cape Colony for several terms in the late 1800s.

Another historically significant individual was Adelbert BONAHOOM (1865-1942), a Dutch physicist and inventor. He pioneered some of the earliest experiments with X-ray imaging technology in the late 19th century, working alongside other scientific luminaries like Wilhelm Röntgen.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bonahoom

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bonahoom.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bonahoom was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bonahoom has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bonahoom was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bonahoom, please contact us.

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