MEANING & HISTORY
What does Bonifacio mean?
Bonifacio is the Italian and Spanish form of Latin Bonifatius. The name combines bonus, good, and fatum, fate or destiny.
This makes good fate a closer historical explanation than the popular good-doer, which relies on a different Latin association. Saints and popes helped transmit the name across Christian Europe. Its use as a given name and as a surname should be distinguished, even when a family chooses it to honour a particular historical bearer.
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /boniˈfasjo/Standard-Tagalog
- [bo.n̪ɪˈfaː.ʃo]Standard-Tagalog
- /boniˈpasjo/with nativization
- [bo.n̪ɪˈpaː.ʃo]with nativization
- [bo.n̪ɪˈpas.jo]with nativization
Bo · ni · fac · io4 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Spanish
- /boniˈfaθjo/
- [bo.niˈfa.θjo]
- /boniˈfasjo/
- [bo.niˈfa.sjo]
Bo · ni · fa · cio4 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from Spanish Bonifacio, from Late Latin Bonifātius (literally “the one with a good fate”).
a male given name from Spanish, equivalent to English Boniface
Wiktionary: Bonifacio (Tagalog) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
SpanishEtymology & source
Learned borrowing from Late Latin Bonifātius (literally “the one with a good fate”).
a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Boniface
Wiktionary: Bonifacio (Spanish) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Bonifacio
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Bonifacio Flores Arevalo
Sculptor and patron of the arts (1850-1920)
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Bonifacio Gillego
Filipino politician
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
30
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
5
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Bonifacio Flores Arevalo, Bonifacio Gillego
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Bonifacio in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Bonifacio
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Bonifacia·Good fortune, through Bonifacio
- Bonito♂Pretty, handsome, or pleasing
- Briccio·Bricius/Brice-family form with disputed Gaulish ancestry
- Constancio♂Steadfast or constant; from Latin Constantius
- Engracio·Documented masculine counterpart in the Engracia name tradition
- Horacio♂Spanish form of the Roman family name Horatius
- Ignacio♂Spanish form of Ignatius
- Pancracio·Greek name elements: all and power
What rhymes with Bonifacio?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Bonifacio further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q18643468 — Bonifacio (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Bonifacio Flores Arevalo (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q18643468 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Bonifacio Gillego (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q18643468 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Bonifacio (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Bonifacio (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Bonifacio (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.
- Behind the Name — Boniface (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.