Bonner — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O Cnaimhin
Meaning: 'little bone', possibly denoting a lean ancestor
Traditional stronghold: Donegal
Pronunciation: BON-er
History of the Bonner name
Bonner is the standard anglicisation of O Cnaimhin, from cnaimh, 'bone', with a diminutive ending. The family were erenaghs, hereditary stewards of church lands, attached to the monastery of Kilmacrenan in Donegal, and remained closely tied to that county for centuries under the O'Donnell lordship of Tyrconnell. Because the sept never held major secular power, the name stayed modest in scale but very concentrated, and Donegal is still overwhelmingly the surname's home county.
Variants: Bonar · Bonnar · Cnaimhin
Famous bearers of the name
- Packie Bonner — Donegal-born goalkeeper, hero of Ireland's 1990 World Cup penalty shoot-out
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Gallagher · Boyle · Doherty · Sweeney · O'Donnell · Duffy · McLoughlin · Mooney