Girl's name
Bonnie
Say it BON-ee
English origin fine, beautiful
2 syllables
Where Bonnie is loved, common and rare
Common across the UK, Ireland, Sweden and four more places. Rare in five German cities, the Netherlands, Canada and two more places.
1 in 160 girls born in Scotland in 2025
Scotland 32ndEngland and Wales 48thIreland 64th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 19 of the 40 official lists, among them Scotland (32nd), England and Wales (48th) and Ireland (64th).
Show all 19 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 32nd 2025 | 112 | 1 in 160 |
| England and Wales | 48th 2025 | 882 | 1 in 287 |
| Victoria state | 63rd 2025 | 100 | rank only |
| Ireland | 64th 2025 | 80 | 1 in 264 |
| Northern Ireland | 65th 2025 | 31 | 1 in 235 |
| Queensland state | 67th 2025 | 77 | rank only |
| Sweden | 69th 2025 | 147 | about 1 in 273 |
| New South Wales state | 69th 2025 | 102 | rank only |
| South Australia state | 71st 2025 | 24 | rank only |
| Cologne city | 419th 2023 | 2 | about 1 in 3,072 |
| The Netherlands | 577th 2025 | 21 | about 1 in 2,905 |
| British Columbia province | 592nd 2023 | 5 | about 1 in 2,392 |
| France | 699th 2025 | 55 | 1 in 5,214 |
| Berlin city | 757th 2023 | 3 | about 1 in 4,835 |
| Ontario province | 867th 2024 | 13 | about 1 in 4,190 |
| Switzerland | 1013th 2025 | 5 | 1 in 6,799 |
| Rostock city | 166th 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 985 |
| Leipzig city | 212th 2025 | 2 | about 1 in 1,312 |
| Bonn city | 382nd 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 3,015 |
Rare, below the listed names: Quebec, New Zealand, Austria, Munich, Norway, Spain, Catalonia, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Registry of BDM Victoria (DataVic) (Victoria); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Queensland Registry of BDM (Qld Open Data Portal) (Queensland); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (Data.NSW) (New South Wales); SA Attorney-General's Department, Births, Deaths and Marriages (data.sa.gov.au) (South Australia); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock (opendata-hro.de) (Rostock); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source
About the name
Bonnie started as an American nickname taken from the Scottish word bonnie, 'fine, beautiful'. It is recorded as an English name.
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Two syllables, BON-ee, give it a bright, friendly sound. Bonny is the alternative spelling, and Bonita and Bonne are related forms.
Bonnie ranks high in Scotland and in England and Wales, and is used in Victoria and Sweden. It is very much a mid-century name: in the Ontario and British Columbia records it peaked in 1951, and the median bearer was born a few years later. Now it is coming back, rising in ten places and falling in only two, as parents rediscover mid-century names.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- BON-ee, 2 syllables
- Meaning
fine, beautiful
- Origin
- English
- Other spellings
- Bonne
- Bonita
- Bonny
Etymology
Originally an American nickname from Scottish bonnie (“fine, beautiful”).
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 10 of 18 regions, falling in 2.
Show the yearsShow less
Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 114 | 95 | 81 | 62 | 45 | 40 | 35 | 26 | 16 | 48 |
| Scotland | 112 | 139 | 72 | 56 | 34 | 39 | 30 | 24 | 11 | 32 |
| Northern Ireland | 123 | 118 | 151 | 107 | 71 | 68 | 38 | 38 | 28 | 65 |
| Ireland | 156 | 108 | 91 | 72 | 41 | 47 | 41 | 33 | 34 | 64 |
| Ontario | 961 | 938 | 847 | 1384 | 1057 | 867 | ||||
| British Columbia | 666 | 667 | 592 | |||||||
| New South Wales | 94 | 80 | 97 | 78 | 52 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 46 | 69 |
| Victoria | 92 | 65 | 75 | 71 | 74 | 69 | 54 | 57 | 44 | 63 |
| Queensland | 93 | 90 | 79 | 69 | 55 | 60 | 53 | 52 | 67 | |
| South Australia | 174 | 135 | 76 | 64 | 65 | 71 | 71 | |||
| New Zealand | 99 | 84 | 54 | 84 | ||||||
| France | 1484 | 1297 | 1128 | 1112 | 989 | 780 | 1224 | 932 | 913 | 699 |
| The Netherlands | 924 | 1027 | 1016 | 617 | 577 | |||||
| Switzerland | 1279 | 1749 | 1512 | 1180 | 1370 | 818 | 991 | 1147 | 1013 | |
| Berlin | 963 | 985 | 668 | 562 | 641 | 757 | ||||
| Rostock | 202 | 202 | 174 | 166 | ||||||
| Sweden | 156 | 105 | 119 | 92 | 58 | 49 | 49 | 60 | 49 | 69 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 48 | 882 | 348.2 |
| 2024 | 16 | 1,583 | 613.6 |
| 2023 | 26 | 1,346 | 524.6 |
| 2022 | 35 | 1,148 | 435.7 |
| 2021 | 40 | 1,121 | 409.1 |
| 2020 | 45 | 1,015 | 378.1 |
| 2019 | 62 | 878 | 313.5 |
| 2018 | 81 | 645 | 223.7 |
| 2017 | 95 | 563 | 188.2 |
| 2016 | 114 | 500 | 162.8 |
| 2015 | 120 | 482 | 156.5 |
| 2014 | 142 | 384 | 125.2 |
| 2013 | 171 | 309 | 100.2 |
| 2012 | 201 | 248 | 77.0 |
| 2011 | 218 | 228 | 71.0 |
| 2010 | 263 | 191 | 59.5 |
| 2009 | 281 | 170 | 54.2 |
| 2008 | 358 | 124 | 39.3 |
| 2007 | 411 | 101 | 33.0 |
| 2006 | 410 | 102 | 34.1 |
| 2005 | 296 | 142 | 49.3 |
| 2004 | 320 | 125 | 43.7 |
| 2003 | 331 | 115 | 41.3 |
| 2002 | 398 | 83 | 31.0 |
| 2001 | 357 | 94 | 35.1 |
| 2000 | 380 | 85 | 31.1 |
| 1999 | 427 | 71 | 25.2 |
| 1998 | 342 | 99 | 34.2 |
| 1997 | 335 | 102 | 34.8 |
| 1996 | 356 | 95 | 32.1 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
Ontario and British Columbia since 1925
Half of the babies named Bonnie in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 1956. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 1951, at 1,136.0 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Bonnie per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 1951 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.
Sister names for Bonnie
1 in 347 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 335 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 346 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 1,174 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 142 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 325 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 326 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 754 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 291 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
1 in 274 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Bonnie.
Middle names for Bonnie
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Bonnie Grace
2-1 beats · initials BG
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Bonnie Olivia
2-4 beats · initials BO · Bonnie slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Bonnie slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Bonnie Sophia
2-3 beats · initials BS
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Bonnie Maria
2-3 beats · initials BM
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Bonnie Rose
2-1 beats · initials BR
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Bonnie Emily
2-3 beats · initials BE · Bonnie slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Bonnie slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Bonnie Julia
2-3 beats · initials BJ
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Bonnie Miriam
2-3 beats · initials BM
Changes the beat after Bonnie: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Bonnie
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 132 in Northern Ireland
91% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 326 in England and Wales
91% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
90% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 383 in Northern Ireland
89% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 142 in Scotland
88% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 118 in Ireland
88% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 291 in Northern Ireland
88% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
1 in 325 in Ireland
88% alike: moves with Bonnie across countries and decades.
Famous people named Bonnie
Bonnie Tyler, Bonnie Wright, Bonnie Hunt, Bonnie Raitt, Bonnie Blair, Bonnie Bedelia, Bonnie J. Dunbar and Bonnie Somerville.
Show all 8Show less
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Welsh singer (1951–2026)
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British actress and filmmaker born 1991
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American actress and comedian born 1961
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American musician (born 1949)
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American speed skater born 1964
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American actress (born 1948) born 1946
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American engineer and astronaut born 1949
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American actress (born 1974)
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Bonnie
5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Bonnie?
Her best rank is No. 32 in Scotland in 2025, about 1 in 160 girls. She is in the published lists of 19 of our 40 regions.
What does Bonnie mean?
Wiktionary glosses Bonnie as "fine, beautiful".
How do you pronounce Bonnie?
BON-ee, with 2 syllables.
Is Bonnie getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 10 of 18 regions, falling in 2.
Which sister names go with Bonnie?
The deck's top five sisters for Bonnie: Nancy, Harriet, Faye, Sally and Daisy. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.