Bonita

Borrowed directly from the Spanish feminine adjective meaning pretty or well-formed. The name began appearing in American birth registers in the late nineteenth century and climbed steadily through the early decades of radio and cinema. It found its widest audience in mid-century suburban subdivisions.

The name lands like an upbeat melody played through a car radio with push buttons. It brings to mind someone who keeps a hardbound address book and knows how to back a station wagon into a narrow driveway. Two out of three living bearers belong to the Baby Boom cohort. The name rarely encounters a duplicate in the room today.