Boney
A surname that likely began as a nickname from “bonny” or “bone,” though its exact origin is not fully certain.
The #8,673 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 81,485 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Boney is generally treated as a nickname-based name. Historical surname writers link it to forms like Bonny/Bonney, which could reflect Middle English and Scots “bonny,” meaning fair, attractive, or fine, ultimately from Old French and related Romance forms for “good.” Some older sources also place it among names built from the element “bone/bon-,” but the evidence is not strong enough to be more specific with confidence. Because early surname scholarship often merged several similar-looking names, the exact pathway for Boney is uncertain.
History
The name appears in 19th-century surname lists alongside Bonny and Bone, suggesting that it was in use in Britain and the English-speaking world by then. The form is not especially common in the historical record, and surviving evidence does not clearly separate it from similar surnames with the same sound pattern. In modern usage it is a relatively uncommon surname in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some Victorian surname writers grouped Boney with descriptive nicknames like Bald, Playfoot, and Tough, showing how broad and playful their classifications could be.
From the historical record
“K on est, from Banaate, or Banas- tro. See JjXsyiSTT.ii. Boney, for Box>'EY. Eonfield, for Bonville, from the Castle of l>junevilld or Bondeville, Normandy. William de Bonville occurs 1124 (Gall. Christ, xi. ]o9). In llOo the sou of Bobert de Bon-”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States