Bon
A French name meaning "good" or "kind".
Name Census estimates that about 227 living Americans carry the first name Bon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bon today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bon births was 1988 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
227
~ 1 in 1,509,931 Americans
Peak year
1988
17 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2016 SSA rank
#10,929
Tracked since 1926
Census
Bon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,176 people with the first name Bon, which placed it at #11,058 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,058
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
57.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bon is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.0%) and Black (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bon described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander57.5% · 676
- White31.0% · 364
- Black or African American5.6% · 66
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 43
- Two or more races1.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 8
Popularity
Bon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bon from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 85 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bon
The given name Bon is a diminutive of the French masculine name Bonnet, which means "good" or "kind." It originated from the Old French word "bon," derived from the Latin word "bonus," meaning "good." The name has been used in various parts of Europe, particularly in France, since the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bon can be found in the 12th-century French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland" (The Song of Roland), where a character named Bon is mentioned. In the 14th century, a French poet and composer named Guillaume de Machaut wrote a musical composition titled "Bon Jour, Bon Mois, et Bonne Estrenne" (Good Day, Good Month, and Good New Year).
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bon. One of the most famous was Bon Gaultier (c. 1590-1668), a French satirist and poet who was known for his witty and humorous works. Another notable figure was Bon de Lezardière (c. 1615-1677), a French naval officer and explorer who led expeditions to the Caribbean and North America.
In the 18th century, Bon-André Blondel (1741-1784) was a French architect and engineer who made significant contributions to the design of bridges and other structures. In the 19th century, Bon-Joseph Dacier (1742-1833) was a French philologist and scholar who specialized in the study of ancient Greek literature.
More recently, in the 20th century, Bon Scott (1946-1980) was the legendary lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC, known for his powerful vocals and charismatic stage presence. Despite his untimely death at the age of 33, he left a lasting impact on the music industry and is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock singers of all time.
People
Bon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 227 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,509,931 US residents.
Is Bon a common name?
We classify Bon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bon most popular?
The single biggest year for Bon was 1988, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bon is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,176 people with the name Bon, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,058 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bon in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bon on both sides of the split. Of the 1,177 people counted with this name, 886 were male (75.3%) and 291 were female (24.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bon is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.0%) and Black (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bon most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Bon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.5% (676 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bon in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bon in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bon can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Bon?
Find out how many people share the name Bon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.