Given name & surname
Bona
“good”
Bona is used as a given name and a surname. One Late Latin interpretation is “good.” Its derivation is not certain.
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Late Latin interpretation is “good.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Late Latin, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
Bona is a feminine form of Bonus.
The story
The name’s historical associations include a Pisan saint, and also by the first abbess of Rheims.
Bona through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 191
- 10 boys · 181 girls
- Most popular year
- 1945
- 16 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2022. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 16 in 1945. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 508 as a first name in 2020; 1,439 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Bona’s family of names
In Polish usage, Bona has a diminutive in BONKA. Bona is a feminine form of Bonus. Bona has a related form in Bonie.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Bona has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Bona
- Bona SforzaQueen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania1494–1557
- Bona of Pisanun who helped lead travellers on pilgrimages1156–1207
- Bona Septanobadminton playerborn 1987
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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