Boni
Feminine diminutive form of the Latin name Bona meaning "good, kind."
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Boni. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Boni today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Boni births was 1955 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Boni. 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.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
1955
26 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1997 SSA rank
#14,023
Tracked since 1943
Census
Boni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 626 people with the first name Boni, which placed it at #17,560 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
#17,560
National first-name rank
People counted
626
626 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Boni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Boni is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.6%). 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 Boni 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 Boni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.8% · 349
- Hispanic or Latino24.3% · 152
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.6% · 54
- Black or African American7.5% · 47
- Two or more races2.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 6
Popularity
Boni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Boni from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 148 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Boni 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 Boni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bonis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Boni
The name Boni has its origins in Latin, where it was derived from the word "bonus," meaning "good" or "virtuous." It was initially used as a nickname or diminutive form of names like Boniface or Bonaventure.
In ancient Rome, the name Boni was sometimes given to children as a way of expressing the parents' hope for their child to grow up to be a good and virtuous person. It was also used as a cognomen (a third name) in some Roman families, indicating a positive quality or achievement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Boni comes from the 3rd century AD, when a Roman poet named Boni Secundus was mentioned in various literary works. However, the name gained more prominence during the Middle Ages, particularly in Italy and other regions with strong Catholic influences.
In the 9th century, Pope Boniface VI, whose birth name was Boni, held the papal office for a brief period in 896 AD. Another notable figure was Boni da Pisa, a 13th-century Italian architect and sculptor who contributed to the construction of several iconic buildings in Pisa, including the famous Leaning Tower.
During the Renaissance period, Boni Boni, an Italian painter from the 16th century, earned recognition for his religious paintings and frescoes in churches across Italy. His works can still be admired in various cities, including Rome and Venice.
In the realm of literature, Boni Mauri was a 15th-century Italian humanist and scholar who wrote several influential works on rhetoric and classical literature. His contributions helped shape the intellectual landscape of the Renaissance period.
Moving forward in time, Boni Castellane was a French aristocrat and socialite in the late 19th century, known for her extravagant lifestyle and involvement in Parisian high society. She was a prominent figure in the cultural and social circles of her time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Boni throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence and the diverse backgrounds of those who carried this name.
People
Boni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Boni 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
Boni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Boni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Boni 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 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Boni a common name?
We classify Boni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Boni most popular?
The single biggest year for Boni was 1955, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Boni is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Boni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 626 people with the name Boni, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,560 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 Boni 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 Boni?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Boni on both sides of the split. Of the 625 people counted with this name, 158 were male (25.3%) and 467 were female (74.7%). 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 Boni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Boni is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.6%). 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 Boni most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Boni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (349 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 Boni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Boni a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Boni in the SSA data are female. 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 Boni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Boni 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 Boni 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 are called Boni?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.