girl's name
Bonnie
BON-ee
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (E&W)
- Births on record 350,358
the United States
#396
2025 births
Bonnie is a girl's name of Scots origin meaning "pretty" or "fine." It comes from the Scots word bonnie, itself from the French bon, good, and is one of the few given names taken directly from a dialect adjective.
- Bonnie is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in US records in 1947, when 10,285 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1940s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival in US records.
- Today about 1 in 597 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Bonnie over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. Bonnie is more popular in England and Wales — see the country table below. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 443 |
| 1890s | 1,445 |
| 1900s | 2,632 |
| 1910s | 8,835 |
| 1920s | 23,885 |
| 1930s | 36,571 |
| 1940s | 87,600 |
| 1950s | 83,505 |
| 1960s | 45,368 |
| 1970s | 16,814 |
| 1980s | 12,213 |
| 1990s | 4,452 |
| 2000s | 2,059 |
| 2010s | 3,112 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,778 |
What Bonnie means
Bonnie means pretty, attractive or fine. In Scots the word covers more than appearance — a bonnie day or a bonnie fighter uses it to mean excellent, so the name carries approval broadly.
Where Bonnie comes from
Bonnie comes from the Scots bonnie, from the Old French bon or bonne, good, ultimately the Latin bonus. Scots kept the French borrowing with a wider sense than English did. The name's spread beyond Scotland is largely American and largely literary: Margaret Mitchell named a character Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone with the Wind in 1936, and Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde, killed in 1934, gave it an entirely different set of associations two years earlier.
Bonnie in use
Our data marks Bonnie as reviving, peaking in 1947 — the decade after Gone with the Wind — and now at 48 in England and Wales against 396 in the United States. The 1947 peak is a clear case of a single book and film moving a name, and our series shows the timing precisely.
How popular is Bonnie?
In 2025, Bonnie was given to 882 babies in England and Wales, ranking #48 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Where Bonnie is used
England and Wales figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year. The historical chart above uses US records, the only series running back to 1880. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Bonnie
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Bonnie also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Bonnie over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Bonnie
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Bonnie in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Dutch
- Bonne
- Spanish
- Bonita
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Bonny Boni Bonnie-Mae
Sibling names for Bonnie
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Bonnie — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Bonnie
What does the name Bonnie mean?
Bonnie means "pretty" or "fine," from the Scots word bonnie, itself from the French bon, good.
Is Bonnie a Scottish name?
The word is Scots, though it was borrowed from French. Its spread as a given name was mostly American.
Did Gone with the Wind make Bonnie popular?
Our data shows Bonnie peaking in 1947, the decade after the 1936 novel and 1939 film — one of the clearest single-source name peaks in our series.
Is Bonnie a girl's or a boy's name?
Bonnie is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Bonnie?
Bonnie has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Bonnie?
Bonnie is usually shortened to Bon.
Is Bonnie a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Bonnie currently ranks #11 in the United States. After peaking in the 1940s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.