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“good fortune”
Language contexts for this entry: Spanish, German, Italian and 5 more
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01 / Meaning & origin
Bonaventura is a masculine given name documented in Spanish, German, Italian and 5 other languages. English Wikipedia gives the meaning “good fortune”.
Meaning: “good fortune”
[1] abgeleitet vom lateinischen bona e ventura (gutes Schicksal)
02 / Across borders
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9
countries in our sources
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1 country with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.
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Statistics + language records
Spain, 2025: 138 male (rank 6335). Documented as a given name in Spanish, Catalan.
Explore Spain4 of 9 countries
03 / By the numbers
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2025 Spelling: BONAVENTURA
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Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística · Spain — first names of residents, census snapshot 2025-01-01
Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.
| Year | People | Rank | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 138 | 6,335 | observed |
Statistics count the spelling “BONAVENTURA” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure people. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.
Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.
Released 2026-04-23 · Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0
Read our methodology04 / Through time
Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.
BONAVENTURA— “well met”
Of modern Italian date and construction is Bonaventura. Its origin was the exclamation of St. Francis on meeting Giovanni de Fidenza, the son of a dear friend: _O buona ventura_ (happy meeting). These words became the usual appellation of young Fidenza, and as he afterwards was distinguished for holiness and learning, and was called the seraphic doctor, he was canonized as San Bonaventura, and has had sundry namesakes in Italy and France; in the latter country being called…
Of modern Italian date and construction is Bonaventura. Its origin was the exclamation of St. Francis on meeting Giovanni de Fidenza, the son of a dear friend: _O buona ventura_ (happy meeting). These words became the usual appellation of young Fidenza, and as he afterwards was distinguished for holiness and learning, and was called the seraphic doctor, he was canonized as San Bonaventura, and has had sundry namesakes in Italy and France; in the latter country being called Bonaventure. Benvenuto Cellini may perhaps be reckoned as one, unless his name be intended to mean welcome without reference to the saint.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part IV, Chapter VI (Modern Names From The Latin), Section II (Names from Beo) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)
People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.
Italian mathematician and astronomer (1598–1647)
Italian painter (1210-1287)
Italian Catholic priest and professor (1872–1933)
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06 / Behind the facts
Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-17.
Spain — first names of residents, census snapshot 2025-01-01
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), Spain · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
NISRA — First Forenames Given to Babies Registered in Northern Ireland, 1997-2025 (full list)
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.
