From Middle English *bonie (attested only rarely as bon, boun), probably from Old French bon, feminine bonne ("good"), from Latin bonus.

bonnie (comparative bonnier, superlative bonniest)

1. Merry; happy.

   Synonyms: frolicsome, cheerful, blithe, gay

   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Be you blithe and bonny
     Converting all your sounds of woe
     Into Hey nonny, nonny.

2. (Scotland, Geordie) Beautiful; pretty; attractive; handsome.
3. (Scotland, Geordie) Fine, good (often used ironically).

   My bonnie friend, come over here.

• Russian: краси́вый

bonnie (plural bonnies)

1. (NI, colloquial) A bonfire; chiefly one several storeys tall and burned to celebrate Eleventh Night.

Originally an American nickname from Scottish bonnie ("fine, beautiful").

• IPA: /ˈbɒni/

1. A female given name.
   • 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC ↗; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC ↗, part V, page 891 ↗:

     Rhett leaning over the child had said: 'Her eyes are going to be pea-green.'
     'Indeed they are not,' cried Melanie indignantly, forgetting that Scarlett's eyes were almost that shade.
     'They are going to be blue, like Mr O'Hara's eyes, as blue as - as blue as the bonnie blue flag.'
     'Bonnie Blue Butler,' laughed Rhett, taking the child from her and peering more closely into the small eyes. And Bonnie she became until even her parents did not recall that she had been named for two queens.