Bonnie

What Bonnie means

Means “fine, beautiful”

Originally an American nickname from Scottish bonnie (“fine, beautiful”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Bonnie” (revision 89032224), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Bonnie?

US: Rising: up from #863 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #120 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1942, when 8,823 girls got the name (#34 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,047 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 287 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 160 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MT (3.89 per 1,000 girls), ID (1.81 per 1,000 girls), AL (1.47 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Bonnie is #396 in the US and #48 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Bonnie were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Bennie61 US
• Bunnie0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Bonnie

Girls

• Emerald#741From the word “emerald”^*
• Edith#499“wealth, riches + battle”^*
• Goldie#621From the word “gold”^*
• Rosemary#251“dew of the sea”^*
• Laurel#734Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1956, with 1,181 babies; 372 in 2025
• Joy#419From the word “joy”^*

For a brother

• Sonny#298Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #822 in 2015, #298 in 2025
• Alfred#840“elf + counsel”^*
• Royal#476Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #476 vs #2,014 in 2025
• Duke#695Editor’s note Down from #601 in 2015 to #695 in 2025 in the US
• August#81“month of August”^*
• Sage#455“sedge”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under English, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Bonnie’s. Rank is US 2025.