FastNamesBenjamin
Hebrew name meaning "Derived from Hebrew Binyamin, compound of ben ('son') and yamin ('right hand' or 'south'), signifying 'son of the right hand' (the favored side).". Ranked 11th for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Benjamin
Derived from Hebrew Binyamin, compound of ben ('son') and yamin ('right hand' or 'south'), signifying 'son of the right hand' (the favored side).
Linguistically, Benjamin is classified under Hebrew naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "BEN-juh-min".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Benjamin has been given to a total of 826,830 boys. It has also been given to 2,482 girls.
Peak year: Benjamin reached its highest relative share among boys in 1981, when 14,360 babies received the name (8,017 per million births).
All-time best rank: 6th place, first achieved in 2016.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 11th with 9,762 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 10th (down 1 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Benjamin in the 1980s than in any other decade (141,366 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,407 |
| 1890s | 4,460 |
| 1900s | 4,009 |
| 1910s | 17,310 |
| 1920s | 21,028 |
| 1930s | 14,613 |
| 1940s | 17,184 |
| 1950s | 23,833 |
| 1960s | 25,609 |
| 1970s | 81,332 |
| 1980s | 141,366 |
| 1990s | 133,939 |
| 2000s | 137,309 |
| 2010s | 134,509 |
| 2020s | 64,922 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Benjamin is most common in the US
Accounting for when Benjamin was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- New Hampshire: 1.9 times the national rate (5,179 births since 1910).
- Maine: 1.9 times the national rate (5,675 births since 1910).
- Vermont: 1.7 times the national rate (2,123 births since 1910).
- Minnesota: 1.5 times the national rate (21,104 births since 1910).
- Alaska: 1.4 times the national rate (2,236 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Benjamin?
About 718,000 living American boys and men share the name Benjamin. Additionally, an estimated 2,200 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Benjamin is 28 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Benjamin
In the Book of Genesis, Benjamin was the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the second child of Rachel, who died during his birth. Rachel originally named him Ben-oni ('son of my sorrow'), but Jacob renamed him Binyamin ('son of the right hand'), invoking strength, honor, and patriarchal favor.
The name was virtually unused in medieval England until the Protestant Reformation prompted parents to search Old Testament scriptures for virtuous baptismal names. By the seventeenth century, Benjamin was firmly established among English and colonial American Puritans. Its standing in American culture was permanently elevated by polymath founding father Benjamin Franklin.
In American birth statistics, Benjamin enjoyed a strong nineteenth-century run in the top fifty before dipping modestly during the mid-twentieth century. Beginning in the late 1960s, it staged a robust multi-decade resurgence as parents embraced traditional names with friendly, approachable diminutives like Ben and Benji. It broke into the national top ten in 2015, with over 800,000 lifetime American bearers recorded in SSA data.
Notable people named Benjamin
- Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), Polymath and Founding Father
- Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), British Prime Minister and author
- Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), Composer
- Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901), 23rd U.S. President
- Benjamin Spock (1903–1998), Pediatrician and author
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 34.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 46.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.