Benjamin
- Pronunciation
- [Ben-ja-min]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Son Of The Right Hand. In The Bible The Patriarch Jacob's Twelfth And Most Beloved Son.
- Origin
- Hebrew
About the Name Benjamin
Benjamin descends from the Hebrew Binyamin, composed of ben (son) and yamin (right hand or right side) — literally "son of the right hand," carrying connotations of favor, strength, and being placed at a position of honor. In Genesis, Benjamin is the youngest of the patriarch Jacob's twelve sons and the only one born in the land of Canaan; his mother Rachel died in childbirth, after first naming him Ben-oni ("son of my sorrow"), but Jacob renamed him to the more auspicious Binyamin.
The biblical Benjamin became the namesake of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, which produced King Saul (Israel's first king) and the apostle Paul. The name's English-language adoption came through the Puritan revival of Old Testament names in the 17th century, and it has remained in steady use ever since — never the most popular boys' name, but never absent from the top 100.
The Founding Fathers gave Benjamin a uniquely American resonance: Benjamin Franklin (statesman, scientist, inventor of bifocals and the lightning rod), Benjamin Rush (signer of the Declaration of Independence), and Benjamin Harrison V (also a signer). A century later Benjamin Disraeli served twice as British Prime Minister, and the 20th century added composer Benjamin Britten, jurist Benjamin Cardozo, and pediatrician Benjamin Spock, whose Baby and Child Care (1946) became one of the bestselling books of the 20th century. Common nicknames include Ben, Benny, and Benji; international forms include Bényámin (Hungarian), Beniamino (Italian), and the Spanish Benjamín.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Benjamin
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual US births named Benjamin by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1989 with 15,733 boys named Benjamin (boy rank #29 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #11 for boys (9,762 US births). That's 18 places above its earlier 1989 peak — the name is more popular now than it has ever been.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Benjamin Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Benjamin the strongest states are Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | #3 | 3,593 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | #4 | 4,762 |
| 3 | Illinois | #5 | 4,723 |
| 4 | Washington | #5 | 2,797 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | #5 | 454 |
| 6 | Oregon | #6 | 1,435 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | #6 | 588 |
| 8 | Michigan | #7 | 3,387 |
| 9 | Indiana | #8 | 2,463 |
| 10 | California | #8 | 14,688 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | #41 | 199 |
| 2 | Mississippi | #40 | 551 |
| 3 | West Virginia | #32 | 444 |
| 4 | South Dakota | #25 | 260 |
| 5 | North Dakota | #24 | 269 |
| 6 | Wyoming | #22 | 140 |
| 7 | Louisiana | #21 | 1,128 |
| 8 | Kentucky | #20 | 1,341 |
| 9 | South Carolina | #19 | 1,238 |
| 10 | Alabama | #18 | 1,265 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Benjamin in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named Benjamin
11 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Benjamin.
- Benjamin Britten is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.
- Benjamin Cardozo was an eminent American jurist who contributed significantly towards the development of ‘common law’ in United States.
- Benjamin Disraeli is a British politician and writer who twice served as the Prime Minister of the country.
- Benjamin Franklin — Scientist (1706)
- Benjamin Graham was a renowned American economist who brought the idea of value investing for the first time.
- Benjamin Harrison — US President (1833)
- Benjamin Lincoln was a major general in the Continental Army.
- Benjamin Netanyahu — World Leader (1949)
- Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first president of Nigeria.
- Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States.
- Benjamin Spock was an American pediatrician, most noted as the author of one of the bestselling nonfiction books of all time ‘Baby and Child Care’.
Looking for names like Benjamin?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Benjamin to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Benjamin against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Benjamin Baby Name Ideas
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With L: Keep the Repeated L Clear Without Losing Flow
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With T: Keep the T Seam Clear Without Overcorrecting
- Do You Need a One-Syllable Middle Name? When a Short Anchor Helps—and When It Flattens the Full Name
- What Is Teddy Short For? From Theodore and Edward to Standalone Teddy
- What Is Evie Short For? From Eve and Evelyn to Evangeline
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With R: Manage the Repeated R Without Flattening the Surname
- Should Sibling Names Be Similar in Length? Pairing a Short Name With a Long One
- Should First and Middle Names Start With the Same Letter? Testing Alliteration Beyond the Monogram
- Should Sibling Names Have the Same Level of Formality? Pairing Full Classics With Short Modern Names
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With S: Control the Hiss, Seam, and Rhythm
- When a First and Middle Name Share the Same Ending Sound: Deciding Whether the Echo Helps
- When a Baby's First and Last Names Start With the Same Sound: Testing Alliteration in Real Life
- How to Revisit a Baby Name You Rejected Early: A Fresh Test Without Restarting the Whole Search
- Should Sibling Names Have Similar Nickname Range? Balancing Full Forms and Everyday Call Names
- Baby Names for Last Names With First-Syllable Stress: Building Rhythm After a Strong Opening Beat
- Should Sibling Names Share an Ending Sound? Building a Set Without Making a Chorus
- Should a Baby's Name Match the Parents' Names? Creating Family Cohesion Without a Theme
- Who Should See Your Baby Name Shortlist? Getting Useful Feedback Without Turning It Into a Vote
- Should You Avoid a Baby Name Because Everyone Around You Is Using It? A Local Popularity Test
- The Best Middle Names for Elias: Pairings That Give a Soft Ending a Clear Next Beat