Binyamin
Masculine · “son of the right hand”
Binyamin is son of the right hand — and his mother named him son of my sorrow with her last breath, before Jacob changed it.
How old is the name Binyamin?
Binyamin first appears in US birth records in 1978 — 47 years ago. The typical Binyamin is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,100 people named Binyamin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Binyamin most popular?
Binyamin peaked in 2024, reaching #2261 nationally. Today it ranks #2516, 255 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From ben yamin to Binyamin
The story of Binyamin
Rachel dies in childbirth naming the boy son of my sorrow; Jacob will not let it stand and calls him son of the right hand — one of the few renamings in Genesis and among the most pointed. Binyamin is the Hebrew form, standard in Israel, and is in current American use.
Meaning
son of the right hand
From the Hebrew Binyamin — ben, 'son', and yamin, 'right hand' or 'south'. Genesis has Rachel name him Ben-Oni, 'son of my sorrow', as she dies, and Jacob rename him at once. The right hand is the side of strength and favor. The Hebrew is documented.
How the name formed
- ben yamin
- Binyamin
Related forms: בנימין · Benjamin · Binyamin
Pronouncing Binyamin
bin-yah-MEEN
Three syllables, stress on the third. English Benjamin is BEN-juh-min.
Nicknames for Binyamin
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
- 1978
- Most boys named
- 202463 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2261reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −15.9%53 in 2025, from 63
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.
Binyamin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- בנימין in Hebrew — transliteration
- Benjamin in English — related form
- Binyamin in Arabic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, Maryland.
Binyamins among us
people named Binyamin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 32,228 born in 2025 was named Binyamin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Daijon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Binyamin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Daijon climbed just as high around 1997, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Daijon's path sketches the road Binyamin is walking now.
Binyamin 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
Where Binyamin is headed
Binyamin looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 19% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Binyamin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Binyamin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Jacob overrides Rachel's dying name for the child is a first-rate scene.
- The right-hand meaning is transparent and strong.
- Benny is available as a warm English short form.
- Benjamin is what English speakers will assume and say differently.
- It reads as specifically Hebrew or Muslim.
- Three syllables and an unfamiliar stress will need dictating.
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What they receive
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Binyamin
Masculine · #2516 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Binyamins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Binyamin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Binyamin in 2025?
- Binyamin ranks #2516 among US boy names in 2025, with 53 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Binyamin?
- About 1 in every 32,228 US boys born in 2025 was named Binyamin — 53 in all.
- Will my child share the name Binyamin with classmates?
- Binyamin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Binyamin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Tahir#2516 · Rye#2516 · Neymar#2516 · Alphonse#2516 · Austen#2516 · Saleem#2516 · Stuart#2516 · Jariel#2516
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Binyamin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Binyamin and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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