Boone
Meaning
surname from Old French 'bon', 'good', or from the town of Bohon, France
The story
Boone is an English surname with two possible homes: the Old French bon, "good," or the town of Bohon in France, and the reference books decline to pick. America hears neither; it hears the frontier. Daniel Boone, the pioneer whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States, gave the surname a permanent buckskin jacket. As a first name it idled for a century, 89 in the 1920s, then double digits through midcentury. The climb is entirely modern: 496 in the 2000s, 2,300 in the 2010s, and 3,229 already since 2020, past the full 2010s total with years still on the clock. It arrived with the wave of rugged single-syllable surnames, alongside Ford and Hayes, and whichever of its two derivations you prefer, it sounds like a campfire in person.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Boone peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
When you meet Boone
Most people given the name Boone in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Boone deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Boone truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Boone fits with your family’s names and surname.
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