Where Does the Bonaventure Surname Come From?

The name Bonaventure is closely linked to Bonaventura. Read literally, Bonaventure points to “A good-fortune personal name”.

How the spelling arose

Bonaventure and Bonaventura differ only in the final vowel; Italian surnames often appear in both a singular and a plural form. Regional accents shaped spellings long before dictionaries fixed them.

586 Americans were listed as Bonaventure in the 2010 census. From 1891 to 2000, 1,495 births in France were registered under Bonaventure. Births under the name grew in the later decades.

Bonaventure coat of arms

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

Want more than a summary? See the Bonaventure family name pack.