Benji
A diminutive of Benjamin, a Hebrew name meaning "son of the right hand".
Name Census estimates that about 2,105 living Americans carry the first name Benji. It is a predominantly male name (97.1% of registrations). The average person named Benji today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Benji births was 1975 (176 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Benji. 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 Benji with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Benji is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 63 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 162,829 Americans
Peak year
1975
176 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,627
Tracked since 1952
Census
Benji in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,185 people with the first name Benji, which placed it at #7,087 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
#7,087
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,185 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Benji
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benji is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.6%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Benji 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 Benji at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.0% · 1,201
- Hispanic or Latino19.6% · 428
- Black or African American11.5% · 252
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.0% · 175
- Two or more races4.9% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Benji
Benji leans heavily male at 97.1% of total registrations, but 63 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Benji as a male name
- Ranked #1,627 in 2024
- 104 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (168 births)
Benji as a female name
- Ranked #15,554 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1975 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Benji leans strongly male. 2,043 people counted with this name were male (93.2%), compared with 148 female bearers (6.8%).
Popularity
Benji: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Benji from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 602 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Benji 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 Benji during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Benjis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Benji, while Utah, Oregon, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Benji
The name Benji is a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Benjamin, which means "son of the right hand" or "son of the south." The name Benjamin is derived from the Hebrew words "ben" meaning "son" and "yamin" meaning "right hand" or "south." The name has its origins in the biblical figure Benjamin, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the progenitor of one of the tribes of Israel.
In the Bible, Benjamin is portrayed as the beloved youngest son of Jacob and his wife Rachel. The story of his birth is tragic, as Rachel dies during childbirth and names him Ben-Oni, meaning "son of my sorrow," but Jacob renames him Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin played a significant role in the history of ancient Israel and was known for its fierce warriors.
The earliest recorded use of the name Benji can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it was used as a diminutive form of Benjamin among Jewish communities in Europe. Over time, the name gained popularity and spread to other cultures and languages.
One of the earliest famous individuals named Benji was Benji Eckstein, a German-Jewish actor and comedian who lived from 1871 to 1917. He was known for his roles in Yiddish theater and films during the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Benji Arieli, an Israeli songwriter and composer who lived from 1921 to 2022. He wrote numerous popular songs and composed the music for several Israeli films.
In the world of sports, Benji Marshall, a New Zealand rugby league player born in 1985, has made a significant impact. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport and has represented New Zealand at the international level.
Benji Madden, an American musician and guitarist, was born in 1979 and is best known as a member of the pop punk band Good Charlotte, which he co-founded with his twin brother, Joel.
Benji Gregory, an American actor and comedian born in 1979, is also noteworthy for his roles in various television shows and films, including "Baywatch" and "The Big Lebowski."
While the name Benji has its roots in the Hebrew language and biblical history, it has transcended cultural and linguistic boundaries and has been embraced by people from diverse backgrounds around the world.
People
Benji + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Benji 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
Benji: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Benji?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Benji 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 162,829 US residents.
Is Benji a common name?
We classify Benji as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,205 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Benji most popular?
The single biggest year for Benji was 1975, when 176 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Benji is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Benji in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,185 people with the name Benji, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,087 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 Benji 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 Benji?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Benji leans strongly male. 2,043 people counted with this name were male (93.2%), compared with 148 female bearers (6.8%). 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 Benji?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benji is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.6%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Benji most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Benji in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.0% (1,201 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 Benji in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Benji a male name?
Yes, 97.1% of people registered as Benji 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 Benji still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Benji 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 Benji 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 Benji?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.