Banjamin
Son of the right hand, from the Hebrew ben and yamin.
Name Census estimates that about 286 living Americans carry the first name Banjamin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Banjamin today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Banjamin births was 1987 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Banjamin. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
286
~ 1 in 1,198,442 Americans
Peak year
1987
28 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,933
Tracked since 1914
Census
Banjamin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 174 people with the first name Banjamin, which placed it at #41,801 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#41,801
National first-name rank
People counted
174
174 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Banjamin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Banjamin is White at 65.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Banjamin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Banjamin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.5% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino20.7% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 9
- Black or African American4.6% · 8
- Two or more races3.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Banjamin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Banjamin from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 162 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Banjamin by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Banjamin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Banjamin
The name Banjamin is a relatively modern variation of the traditional Hebrew name Benjamin. The name's origins can be traced back to the ancient Hebrew language, where it is derived from the roots "ben" meaning "son" and "yamin" meaning "right hand" or "son of the right hand."
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Benjamin was one of the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob. He was born to Jacob's second wife Rachel and was considered the youngest and most beloved of Jacob's sons. The name Benjamin held significant meaning as it symbolized the strength, protection, and favor associated with the right hand.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Benjamin was Benjamin, the son of Jacob, who lived around the 18th or 17th century BCE. The tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, was named after him, and they played an important role in the history of ancient Israel.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Benjamin. One of the most famous was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), the American polymath, politician, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a renowned author, inventor, and diplomat, and his contributions to science and politics have left a lasting impact.
Another prominent Benjamin was Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), a British politician and writer who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice in the 19th century. He was known for his literary works and his significant role in shaping British politics during the Victorian era.
In the world of literature, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was an English composer, conductor, and music theorist who made significant contributions to the development of 20th-century classical music. His operas, such as "Peter Grimes" and "The Turn of the Screw," are considered masterpieces of modern opera.
The name Benjamin has also been associated with religious figures, such as Benjamin, the grandson of Jacob, who is mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Another notable bearer was Benjamin West (1738-1820), an American-born artist who became the second President of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
While the name Banjamin is a relatively modern variation, it carries the rich historical and cultural significance of its Hebrew roots, representing strength, protection, and favor. The name has been borne by numerous notable figures across various fields throughout history, making it a name with a lasting legacy.
People
Banjamin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Banjamin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Banjamin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Banjamin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Banjamin going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,198,442 US residents.
Is Banjamin a common name?
We classify Banjamin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 303 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Banjamin most popular?
The single biggest year for Banjamin was 1987, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Banjamin is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Banjamin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 174 people with the name Banjamin, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,801 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Banjamin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Banjamin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Banjamin appears almost entirely male. Of the 176 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Banjamin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Banjamin is White at 65.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Banjamin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Banjamin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.5% (114 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Banjamin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Banjamin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Banjamin in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Banjamin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Banjamin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Banjamin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Banjamin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.