Benn
A variant of the Old English name Benna, meaning "ridge" or "sharp crest".
Name Census estimates that about 305 living Americans carry the first name Benn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Benn today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Benn births was 1980 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Benn. 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 Benn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
305
~ 1 in 1,123,785 Americans
Peak year
1980
11 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,945
Tracked since 1915
Census
Benn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 493 people with the first name Benn, which placed it at #20,821 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
#20,821
National first-name rank
People counted
493
493 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Benn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benn is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.1%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Benn 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 Benn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.3% · 371
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.1% · 40
- Black or African American6.7% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 31
- Two or more races3.4% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Benn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Benn from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 77 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Benn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Benn 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 Benn 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 Benn
The name Benn has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "benn," which means "a small hill or mound." It first appeared in the early medieval period, around the 5th to 7th centuries CE, and was primarily used in the Anglo-Saxon regions of what is now England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Benn can be found in the Domesday Book, a historical record compiled in 1086 CE by order of William the Conqueror. The book mentions individuals with the name Benn, indicating its usage in England during the Norman period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Benn. One of the most prominent was Benn Pitman (1822-1910), an English teacher and inventor who developed a widely used system of shorthand writing known as the "Benn Pitman" system. His work revolutionized the field of stenography and had a lasting impact on business communication.
Another individual of historical significance was Benn Wolfe Levy (1900-1973), an American lawyer and civil rights activist who played a crucial role in the desegregation of public schools in the United States. He was instrumental in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine and paved the way for the integration of schools.
In the realm of literature, Benn Howard (1901-1993) was an American author and critic known for his works on Western fiction and his contributions to the genre of the American West. He authored several novels and short stories that explored themes of frontier life and the exploration of the American wilderness.
The name Benn also has religious connections, particularly in the Christian faith. Benn of Biscop (628-690) was an Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar who founded the twin monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow in present-day Tyne and Wear, England. These monasteries became important centers of learning and played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in the region.
Lastly, Benn Alfred Becknell (1788-1856) was an American trader and explorer who established the Santa Fe Trail, one of the most important commercial routes in the American West during the 19th century. His efforts opened up new trade opportunities and facilitated the exchange of goods between the United States and the territories of present-day New Mexico and Mexico.
People
Benn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Benn 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
Benn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Benn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 305 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Benn 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 1,123,785 US residents.
Is Benn a common name?
We classify Benn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 382 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Benn most popular?
The single biggest year for Benn was 1980, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Benn is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Benn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 493 people with the name Benn, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,821 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 Benn 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 Benn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Benn appears almost entirely male. Of the 491 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Benn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benn is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.1%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Benn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Benn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.3% (371 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 Benn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Benn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Benn 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 Benn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Benn 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 Benn 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 people are called Benn?
You can see how many people have the name Benn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.