Benjamine
Son of the right hand; from Hebrew meanings "son" and "right hand".
Name Census estimates that about 1,040 living Americans carry the first name Benjamine. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Benjamine today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Benjamine births was 1919 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Benjamine. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Benjamine with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 329,571 Americans
Peak year
1919
35 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,394
Tracked since 1880
Census
Benjamine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,183 people with the first name Benjamine, which placed it at #11,009 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
#11,009
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,183 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Benjamine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benjamine is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Benjamine 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 Benjamine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 694
- Black or African American15.8% · 187
- Hispanic or Latino15.8% · 187
- Two or more races4.3% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 16
Popularity
Benjamine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Benjamine from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 249 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
Benjamine 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 Benjamine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Benjamines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. North Carolina, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Benjamine, while Virginia, Texas, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Benjamine
The name Benjamine is derived from the Hebrew name Benjamin, which means "son of the right hand" or "son of the south." It has its roots in the biblical figure Benjamin, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the eponymous progenitor of the Tribe of Benjamin.
In the Old Testament, Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel, the latter of whom died during his birth. The name is thought to have originated around the 18th century BCE and was initially exclusive to the Israelites and Jews.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Benjamin can be found in the Book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as the name given to Jacob's youngest son. The name gained popularity among Jews and later spread to other cultures, particularly in Europe, due to the influence of Christianity and the Bible.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Benjamine, including Benjamine Franklin (1706-1790), the American statesman, author, inventor, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Another famous Benjamine was Benjamine Disraeli (1804-1881), a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In the realm of literature, Benjamine Jonson (1572-1637) was an English playwright, poet, and literary critic, considered one of the leading dramatists of the Jacobean era. Benjamine Constant (1767-1830) was a Swiss-French philosopher and writer, known for his influential works on liberalism and individualism.
Lastly, Benjamine Britten (1913-1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist, widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century and a central figure in the revival of English opera.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Benjamine throughout history, showcasing its enduring appeal and significance across different cultures and time periods.
People
Benjamine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Benjamine 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
Benjamine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Benjamine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,040 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Benjamine 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 329,571 US residents.
Is Benjamine a common name?
We classify Benjamine as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,807 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Benjamine most popular?
The single biggest year for Benjamine was 1919, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Benjamine is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Benjamine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,183 people with the name Benjamine, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,009 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 Benjamine 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 Benjamine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Benjamine leans strongly male. 1,146 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 29 female bearers (2.5%). 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 Benjamine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benjamine is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Benjamine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Benjamine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (694 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 Benjamine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Benjamine a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Benjamine 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 Benjamine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Benjamine 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 Benjamine 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 common is the name Benjamine?
You can see how many Americans are named Benjamine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.