Bonilla surname meaning
A Spanish surname from places named Bonilla, associated with “good” or “good little one.”
Confidence: Likely. The main story is well supported; some details of the deeper root are less certain.
The short story
Bonilla is chiefly a Spanish habitational surname from one of several places called Bonilla, including Bonilla de la Sierra and places in the Castilian sphere. Explanations connect the name with bueno, “good,” and popular summaries sometimes render it as “good little one,” but that gloss does not make every Bonilla a nickname. A family identified by a place could have acquired the surname independently in different regions. Bonilla, Bonila, Bonylla, and related spellings reflect historical spelling and migration. The catalog uses place for the documented Spanish geographic route, with likely confidence rather than treating the literal gloss as universal.
Also seen as: Bonilla, Bonillas, Bonila, Bonylla
- Ancestry surname meaning for Bonilla citing DAFN 2022 (Spanish place-name and bueno routes)
- Wikipedia “Bonilla (surname)” (Spanish surname history)
- Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)