Recorded 1912–1940 Girls' name Peak 1920 48 births

Bunice — girls' name

48 babies named Bunice in U.S. Social Security records since 1912, with the highest year being 1920. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1910s111920s271930s51940s5
1920s
Peak decade

56% of everyone ever named Bunice was born in this single decade.

1920
Single peak year

11 babies were named Bunice in 1920 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Bunice

The Social Security Administration has registered 48 babies named Bunice between 1912 and 1940, spanning 29 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Bunice currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 1940. The name reached its historical peak in 1920, when 11 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Bunice performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 27 births during that ten-year window. Across the 4 decades of recorded activity, Bunice shows a clear decline from its mid-century high.

No etymological entry is currently available for Bunice in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 48 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Bunice at a glance

Last recorded 1940

Total births

48

Since 1912

29 years of records

Peak year

1920

11 births that year

Strongest decade: 1920s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 1940

Active since

1912

Recorded for 29 years

Last year on file: 1940

Bunice popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1940–1912

Last recorded 1940
Peak year (1920)
11
Annual births at peak — across 29 years of records
4681012 1940193219241923192019171912 5

Bunice by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1920s
Peak decade
1920s
27 births that decade — 56% of Bunice's all-time total
1910s111920s271930s51940s5

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Bunice?
48 babies have been named Bunice since 1912. It was last recorded in 1940. The peak year was 1920 with 11 births.
When was Bunice most popular?
Bunice was most popular in the 1920s decade with 27 total births. The single peak year was 1920.
How long has the name Bunice been used?
Bunice has been recorded in Social Security data since 1912, spanning 29 years of data through 1940.
What names are similar to Bunice?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Bunny, Bunnie, Buna, Bunia, and 3 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1912–1940 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.