Bonnie
Bonnie was given to 785 girls in 2025, #396 among girls’ names; 332,712 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 204,000 Americans named Bonnie and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (61% of everyone recorded); the median is 70 years old and half are between 60 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Bonnie by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Bonnie mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Bonnie is “a female given name from English.” Its etymology gives the sense “fine, beautiful” (bonnie).
Originally an American nickname from Scottish bonnie (“fine, beautiful”).
/ˈbɒni/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Bonnie?
#396 among girls’ names, 2025
Bonnie rose from #865 in 2015 to #396 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.18 to 0.49 per 1,000.
10,285 babies in 1947, the peak
Bonnie peaked in 1947, when 10,285 babies were given it (10,214 girls, #35 among girls’ names). The 785 births of 2025 are 8% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 785 | #396 | 0.49 |
| 2024 | 704 | #443 | 0.43 |
| 2023 | 607 | #502 | 0.38 |
| 2022 | 592 | #527 | 0.36 |
| 2021 | 604 | #512 | 0.37 |
| 2020 | 481 | #606 | 0.30 |
| 2019 | 450 | #646 | 0.27 |
| 2018 | 420 | #691 | 0.25 |
| 2017 | 416 | #699 | 0.24 |
| 2016 | 312 | #897 | 0.18 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 323 | #865 | 0.18 |
| 2014 | 318 | #867 | 0.18 |
| 2013 | 237 | #1,045 | 0.14 |
| 2012 | 225 | #1,097 | 0.13 |
| 2011 | 222 | #1,112 | 0.13 |
| 2010 | 189 | #1,263 | 0.11 |
| 2009 | 173 | #1,375 | 0.09 |
| 2008 | 184 | #1,334 | 0.10 |
| 2007 | 168 | #1,416 | 0.09 |
| 2006 | 186 | #1,283 | 0.10 |
| 2005 | 190 | #1,203 | 0.10 |
| 2004 | 201 | #1,134 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 248 | #945 | 0.14 |
| 2002 | 219 | #1,002 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 255 | #895 | 0.14 |
| 2000 | 235 | #919 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 265 | #817 | 0.15 |
| 1998 | 308 | #717 | 0.17 |
| 1997 | 347 | #641 | 0.20 |
| 1996 | 386 | #590 | 0.22 |
| 1995 | 387 | #589 | 0.22 |
| 1994 | 464 | #531 | 0.26 |
| 1993 | 442 | #541 | 0.24 |
| 1992 | 555 | #450 | 0.30 |
| 1991 | 574 | #445 | 0.31 |
| 1990 | 694 | #379 | 0.37 |
| 1989 | 764 | #330 | 0.41 |
| 1988 | 831 | #298 | 0.47 |
| 1987 | 984 | #258 | 0.57 |
| 1986 | 1,092 | #237 | 0.64 |
| 1985 | 1,176 | #221 | 0.68 |
| 1984 | 1,273 | #206 | 0.76 |
| 1983 | 1,277 | #202 | 0.76 |
| 1982 | 1,368 | #199 | 0.81 |
| 1981 | 1,624 | #169 | 1.0 |
| 1980 | 1,710 | #166 | 1.0 |
| 1979 | 1,627 | #171 | 1.0 |
| 1978 | 1,090 | #227 | 0.71 |
| 1977 | 1,341 | #199 | 0.87 |
| 1976 | 1,204 | #204 | 0.82 |
| 1975 | 1,345 | #188 | 0.92 |
| 1974 | 1,452 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1973 | 1,685 | #164 | 1.2 |
| 1972 | 1,853 | #157 | 1.2 |
| 1971 | 2,329 | #138 | 1.4 |
| 1970 | 2,747 | #130 | 1.6 |
| 1969 | 2,647 | #128 | 1.6 |
| 1968 | 2,953 | #116 | 1.8 |
| 1967 | 3,370 | #102 | 2.0 |
| 1966 | 3,842 | #90 | 2.3 |
| 1965 | 4,130 | #89 | 2.3 |
| 1964 | 4,686 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1963 | 5,226 | #83 | 2.7 |
| 1962 | 5,812 | #79 | 3.0 |
| 1961 | 6,033 | #75 | 3.0 |
| 1960 | 6,389 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1959 | 6,456 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1958 | 6,996 | #63 | 3.5 |
| 1957 | 7,242 | #64 | 3.5 |
| 1956 | 8,133 | #51 | 4.1 |
| 1955 | 8,637 | #45 | 4.4 |
| 1954 | 8,099 | #52 | 4.2 |
| 1953 | 8,615 | #45 | 4.6 |
| 1952 | 9,383 | #41 | 5.1 |
| 1951 | 9,706 | #37 | 5.4 |
| 1950 | 9,746 | #33 | 5.7 |
| 1949 | 9,732 | #35 | 5.7 |
| 1948 | 9,817 | #34 | 5.8 |
| 1947 | 10,214 | #35 | 5.8 |
| 1946 | 9,510 | #33 | 6.1 |
| 1945 | 7,745 | #35 | 5.9 |
| 1944 | 8,456 | #34 | 6.4 |
| 1943 | 8,870 | #34 | 6.4 |
| 1942 | 8,823 | #34 | 6.5 |
| 1941 | 7,762 | #33 | 6.4 |
| 1940 | 5,957 | #39 | 5.2 |
| 1939 | 3,887 | #61 | 3.5 |
| 1938 | 3,773 | #65 | 3.4 |
| 1937 | 3,595 | #64 | 3.4 |
| 1936 | 3,374 | #65 | 3.2 |
| 1935 | 3,610 | #62 | 3.4 |
| 1934 | 3,753 | #58 | 3.6 |
| 1933 | 3,373 | #68 | 3.3 |
| 1932 | 3,621 | #64 | 3.4 |
| 1931 | 3,552 | #73 | 3.3 |
| 1930 | 3,265 | #78 | 2.9 |
| 1929 | 2,974 | #86 | 2.7 |
| 1928 | 2,923 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1927 | 2,796 | #100 | 2.3 |
| 1926 | 2,609 | #105 | 2.2 |
| 1925 | 2,532 | #107 | 2.1 |
| 1924 | 2,296 | #117 | 1.8 |
| 1923 | 2,094 | #126 | 1.7 |
| 1922 | 1,824 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1921 | 1,609 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1920 | 1,515 | #154 | 1.3 |
| 1919 | 1,343 | #163 | 1.2 |
| 1918 | 1,151 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1917 | 1,177 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1916 | 992 | #185 | 0.95 |
| 1915 | 939 | #180 | 1.0 |
| 1914 | 783 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1913 | 648 | #180 | 1.0 |
| 1912 | 539 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1911 | 389 | #181 | 0.93 |
| 1910 | 374 | #183 | 0.94 |
| 1909 | 337 | #177 | 1.0 |
| 1908 | 299 | #188 | 0.89 |
| 1907 | 279 | #192 | 0.88 |
| 1906 | 268 | #186 | 0.91 |
| 1905 | 264 | #188 | 0.91 |
| 1904 | 268 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1903 | 200 | #211 | 0.76 |
| 1902 | 182 | #221 | 0.69 |
| 1901 | 179 | #215 | 0.75 |
| 1900 | 220 | #212 | 0.73 |
| 1899 | 159 | #218 | 0.68 |
| 1898 | 187 | #210 | 0.72 |
| 1897 | 142 | #234 | 0.61 |
| 1896 | 163 | #217 | 0.69 |
| 1895 | 129 | #243 | 0.55 |
| 1894 | 119 | #247 | 0.53 |
| 1893 | 120 | #239 | 0.56 |
| 1892 | 126 | #232 | 0.59 |
| 1891 | 100 | #243 | 0.54 |
| 1890 | 98 | #252 | 0.51 |
| 1889 | 68 | #289 | 0.38 |
| 1888 | 70 | #278 | 0.39 |
| 1887 | 59 | #274 | 0.40 |
| 1886 | 40 | #340 | 0.28 |
| 1885 | 53 | #272 | 0.40 |
| 1884 | 32 | #351 | 0.25 |
| 1883 | 21 | #412 | 0.19 |
| 1882 | 19 | #418 | 0.18 |
| 1881 | 25 | #317 | 0.27 |
| 1880 | 14 | #452 | 0.15 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Bonnie a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 332,712 Americans recorded as Bonnie, 99% are girls and 1% boys. In 2025 it went to 785 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Bonnie: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Bonnie, and how old are they?
204,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 61% of the 332,712 Americans ever recorded as Bonnie. The median Bonnie alive today is 70 years old; half are between 60 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 219,134 people named Bonnie (218,263 women and girls, 871 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 229,463 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 32,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 115,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 32,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 13,600 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,570 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,220 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Bonnie born?
The states with the most babies named Bonnie are California, New York and Pennsylvania, with 19% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 20,809 | #434 | 0.9× |
| New York | 20,793 | #1,097 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 20,690 | #878 | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 18,982 | #489 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 16,621 | #601 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 15,724 | #303 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 15,175 | #441 | 1.1× |
| Wisconsin | 10,114 | #572 | 1.3× |
| Missouri | 9,552 | #178 | 1.1× |
| Kentucky | 9,467 | #341 | 1.3× |
Where Bonnie is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Bonnie is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Bonnie with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 343,225 babies since 1880, Bonnie is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 785 of their 785 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Bonnie
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Bonnie and names like it
- Compare Bonnie and BonnyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sBonnie peaked in 1947.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Bonnie since 1910.
- English namesWiktionary’s origin for Bonnie: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1947The year the most babies were named Bonnie.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Bonnie alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.