Bonny
Feminine · “pretty”
Bonny is given to both — 6,208 girls and 261 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Bonny is a Scots word that English borrowed and Scotland took from French. Bon and bonne mean good in French; Scots turned them into bonnie, meaning pretty, fine, healthy or handsome depending on what is being described. It is one of very few Scots words in general English use, and it arrived as a name rather than a translation.
How old is the name Bonny?
Bonny first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Bonny alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 4,800 people named Bonny are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bonny most popular?
Bonny peaked in 1955, reaching #595 nationally. See the whole 1955 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From bon to Bonny
The story of Bonny
Scotland and France were allies against England for three centuries, and the traffic in words went with the politics — Scots has a considerable stock of French borrowings that English does not, and bonnie is the one that traveled furthest. It entered English through Scottish songs and through Burns, and became a given name in the twentieth century. The -y spelling is the English one and -ie the Scots; both are in American use, and the -y version reads slightly more like a word and slightly less like a name.
Meaning
pretty; fine
Scots bonnie comes from Old French bon, good, and covers a range English needs several words for: attractive, in good health, of good size, agreeable. A bonnie baby is a healthy one rather than a decorative one, which is worth knowing since the name is often read as purely about looks. The derivation from French is standard and undisputed, and it reflects the long Scottish connection with France.
How the name formed
- bon
- bonnie
- Bonny
Related forms: Bonnie · Bonne
Pronouncing Bonny
BON-ee
BON-ee, two syllables, stress at the front, the doubled n keeping the vowel short. Bonnie and Bonny are said identically and are distinguished only on the page.
Nicknames for Bonny
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 1957241 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #595reached in 1955
- Change vs 2021
- −33.3%6 in 2024, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bonny in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bonnie in Scots — spelling variant
- Bonne in French — related form
Bonnys among us
people named Bonny are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bonny sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The word is familiar and the meaning is warm and easy to explain.
- Two syllables, entirely unambiguous, and easy in any accent.
- It works for either child, though it goes overwhelmingly to girls in practice.
- Bonnie is the more common spelling and this one will be rewritten as that.
- The name is closely tied to the middle of the last century and dates a person fairly precisely.
- A word meaning pretty is a claim a child gets measured against, which is worth thinking about in advance.
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What they receive
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Bonny
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Bonnys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,800 people named Bonny are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bonny in 2025?
- Bonny is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Bonny with classmates?
- Bonny will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bonny? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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