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

Bonnema, 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 Bonnema surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bonnema in America

Bonnema is the 28049th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bonnema surname appeared 854 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 Bonnema.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bonnema 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 Bonnema

The surname Bonnema is of Dutch origin, first appearing in records from the 17th century in the northern Netherlands provinces of Friesland and Groningen. It is derived from the Dutch words "bonne" meaning "bean" and "ma" meaning "meadow," suggesting the name may have originally referred to a bean field or farmland.

In the Frisian language, the name is sometimes spelled as "Bonrama" or "Bonnama," reflecting regional dialect variations. One of the earliest known references to the name is in a 1642 land registry from the village of Uithuizen in Groningen, listing a farmer named Sybren Bonnema.

The Bonnema name appears sporadically in various historical documents throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily concentrated in rural areas of Friesland and Groningen. Notable individuals include Pieter Bonnema (1678-1753), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Leeuwarden, and Kornelis Bonnema (1724-1802), a respected theologian and author from Dokkum.

As the name spread across the Netherlands, it adopted slight spelling variations like "Bonnemann" or "Bonnemar" in certain regions. In the 19th century, Barend Bonnema (1818-1892) gained recognition as a pioneering educator and advocate for Frisian language and culture.

The name Bonnema appears to have been most prevalent in the small Frisian town of Buitenpost, where a family of that name owned a successful dairy farm and cheese-making business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Andries Bonnema (1854-1927) and his son Pieter Bonnema (1881-1958) were influential figures in the local community.

While not a particularly common surname, Bonnema has maintained a consistent presence in the northern Netherlands over the centuries, with some individuals achieving notable status in fields such as business, academia, and local politics. The name's roots can be traced back to the agricultural heritage of the Frisian and Groningen regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bonnema

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

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

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

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