Benjamen
Masculine · “Hebrew ben-yamin”
Rachel named him Ben-oni, son of my sorrow, as she died in childbirth. Jacob immediately renamed him Benjamin, son of the right hand. It is the only place in the Bible where a father overrides a mother's naming, and the text records both names.
How old is the name Benjamen?
Benjamen first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Benjamen alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 3,100 people named Benjamen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Benjamen most popular?
Benjamen peaked in 1884, reaching #663 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 9,051 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Binyamin to Benjamen
The story of Benjamen
Genesis 35 has Rachel die giving birth on the road to Ephrath, and with her last breath she calls the child Ben-oni, son of my trouble or sorrow. Jacob calls him Benjamin instead. The text preserves both, which is unusual: elsewhere a renaming replaces what came before, and here the discarded name is kept on the page. The right hand in Hebrew carries connotations of strength and favor, and since the Hebrew speaker orients by facing east, yamin is also the south, which is where the tribe of Benjamin settled. The tribe was the smallest, produced Israel's first king in Saul, and was nearly annihilated in the civil war of Judges 19 to 21. Paul identifies himself as a Benjaminite, which is one of the few things he says about his ancestry.
Meaning
Hebrew ben-yamin, son of the right hand
Benjamen is a respelling of Benjamin, Hebrew Binyamin, joining ben, son, to yamin, the right hand. Since Hebrew orientation faces east, the right hand is the south, so the name may equally mean son of the south, which fits the tribe's territory. The final e replaces the i without changing the sound. The peak is 1884.
How the name formed
- Binyamin
- Benjamin
- Benjamen
Related forms: Binyamin · Benjamin · Benjamin
Pronouncing Benjamen
BEN-juh-min
Three syllables, stress on the first. Benjamen and Benjamin are homophones, because the final syllable is unstressed and its vowel is a schwa.
Nicknames for Benjamen
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 197888 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #663reached in 1884
- Change vs 2023
- −41.7%7 in 2025, from 12
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Benjamen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Binyamin in Hebrew — same name
- Benjamin in English — spelling variant
- Benjamin in Spanish — same name
Benjamens among us
people named Benjamen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Benjamen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Benjamen sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Benjamen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Benjamen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ben and Benji are both established short forms.
- The name has an unbroken history of three thousand years.
- Three syllables with firm first-syllable stress.
- Benjamin is overwhelmingly the standard spelling.
- The final e will be corrected by most systems.
- The 1884 peak places it in the nineteenth century.
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Benjamen
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Benjamens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Benjamen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Benjamen in 2025?
- Benjamen ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Benjamen?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Benjamen — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Benjamen with classmates?
- Benjamen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Benjamen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Benjamen? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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