Bonam: Last Name Origin and Family Crest

In old registers, Bonam often stands in for Bonham. Its meaning, shared with Bonham, is “Good man”.

Bonam and Bonham

Bonam drops the “h” of Bonham, a shortening that clerks often made. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists.

According to the 2010 US Census, the Bonam surname had 362 bearers. That puts it among the top 100,000 US surnames.

Arms associated with the name

A coat of arms belongs to a particular family line rather than to everyone named Bonam, so the heraldry linked to Bonham is a starting point, not an automatic right.

Get the complete Bonam report, with a museum-style coat of arms.