Given name & surname
Boniface
“having good fortune; one who is benevolent”
Boniface is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “having good fortune; one who is benevolent.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “having good fortune; one who is benevolent.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Boniface through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 176
- 176 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1924
- 14 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #8,354 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,354 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 14 in 1924. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 594 as a first name in 2020; 980 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.
Boniface’s family of names
In French usage, Boniface has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Bonifacio. Boniface has a related form in Bonifacio. In Slovenian usage, Boniface has a related form in BONIFAC.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Boniface has relatives in 8 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
9 related names in 8 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Bonifaciovariant · Italian
- Bonnifacelikely variant
- Bonifasvariant · English
- Bonifaziovariant · Italian
- Bonifacovariant · Esperanto
- Bonifaciosvariant
- Bonifaciusvariant
- Bonifaceovariant
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Across languages 8
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Boniface
- Boniface I of MontferratKing of Thessalonica1150–1207
- Boniface AlexandreHaitian politician (1936-2023)
- Boniface, Count of SavoyCount of Savoy1244–1263
- Boniface NdukaJapanese association football playerborn 1996
- Boniface III of TuscanyItalian noble985–1052
- Boniface TumutiKenyan hurdlerborn 1992
- Boniface IV of MontferratItalian noble (1512-1530)
- Boniface of TarsusRoman saint300–290
- Boniface II of Tuscany9th-century Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Lucca788–838
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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