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

Boniface, 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 Boniface surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Boniface in America

Boniface is the 25684th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Boniface surname appeared 960 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 Boniface.

We can also compare 2010 data for Boniface 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 Boniface

The surname Boniface has its roots in the Late Latin name Bonifatius, derived from the words "bonus" meaning good and "fatus" meaning destiny or fate. This name was originally borne by a 3rd-century Roman saint, later known as St. Boniface. The surname itself emerged in medieval England and France, often as a baptismal name given to children in honor of the saint.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Boniface can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented landowners in England after the Norman Conquest. The entries include individuals such as William Boniface, who held lands in Hertfordshire, and Reginald Boniface, a landowner in Somerset.

In the 12th century, the surname appeared in various forms, including Bonefaz, Bonefacius, and Bonifas, reflecting the spelling variations common in that era. One notable bearer was Peter Boniface, a monk and chronicler at the Benedictine abbey in Ely, Cambridgeshire, who wrote a historical account of the abbey's foundation in the late 12th century.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the surname spread across Europe, with records showing Boniface families in areas such as Normandy, Brittany, and the Low Countries. In Italy, the surname was often rendered as Bonifacio or Bonifazi, and was borne by several notable individuals, including the Bonifacio family, who were prominent merchants and bankers in Florence during the Renaissance.

One of the most famous bearers of the surname was the 13th-century Pope Boniface VIII, whose birth name was Benedetto Caetani (1235-1303). He was a controversial figure known for his conflicts with King Philip IV of France and his promulgation of the papal bull Unam Sanctam, which asserted the supremacy of the papacy over secular rulers.

Other notable individuals with the surname include the English historian and antiquarian Thomas Boniface (1587-1656), who wrote extensively on the history of Dorset, and the French botanist and explorer Jean Baptiste Boniface (1746-1828), who explored parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

In the 19th century, the surname was borne by several prominent figures, including the French sculptor François Boniface (1786-1854), known for his public monuments and sculptures in Paris, and the American politician and politician Daniel Everett Boniface (1831-1902), who served as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Arizona Territory.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Boniface

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

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 Boniface 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 Boniface 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 Boniface was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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