Boniface

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Boy · Latin

Boniface

Say it: BON-ih-fas

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Latin Bonifatius, 'good fate' (bonum and fatum); it was later reinterpreted as 'doer of good' (from facere).

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Common in medieval Germany and Italy; rare today.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

153 babies given this name since 1912
At its height in 1914, about 1 in 65,500 boys
Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Early Christian Latin German Italian

The family of the name

French	Boniface
Spanish	Bonifacio
Italian	Bonifacio
Portuguese	Bonifácio
German	Bonifatius
Polish	Bonifacy

Famous bearers

Saint Boniface, 8th-century English missionary to the Germans
Pope Boniface VIII

Names worth a look

AthanasiusBoyFrom Greek athanatos 'immortal'.Early Medieval

KyriakosBoyFrom Greek kyriakos 'of the Lord'.Early Medieval

AnatoleBoyFrom Greek anatolē 'sunrise, east'.Early Medieval

ErasmusBoyFrom Greek erasmios 'beloved, lovely'.Early Medieval · forgotten

SpyridonBoyUncertain. Perhaps from Greek spyris 'basket', or from Latin spiritus 'spirit'.Early Medieval

GennadyBoyFrom Greek gennadas 'noble, generous'.Early Medieval · forgotten

BenvenutoBoyFrom Italian benvenuto 'welcome'.Middle Ages · forgotten

BonifatiusBoyFrom bonum 'good' and fatum 'fate'. The later spelling Bonifacius came from a folk link to facere 'to do', read as…Rome · forgotten

Where this comes from

Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
Calendars of saints and name days
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.