Benjamin
Benjamin was given to 9,762 boys in 2025, #11 among boys’ names; 829,312 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 717,000 Americans named Benjamin and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (86% of everyone recorded); the median is 28 years old and half are between 15 and 42.
Benjamin is the #33 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Benjamin by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Benjamin mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Benjamin is “a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.” Its etymology gives the sense “son of the right/south or son of days” (literally).
Also “a patrilineal surname transferred from the given name.”
From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean “days” (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean “son of days (i.e. old age)” (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) “son of the days” and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) “son of the right hand”), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob’s old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean “right” in the sense of “the south”, noting that Benjamin was the only so
/ˈbɛnd͡ʒəmɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Benjamin?
#11 among boys’ names, 2025
Benjamin fell from #10 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 7.2 to 5.7 per 1,000.
15,788 babies in 1989, the peak
Benjamin peaked in 1989, when 15,788 babies were given it (15,733 boys, #29 among boys’ names). The 9,770 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 62% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9,762 | #11 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 9,865 | #11 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 10,224 | #11 | 6.0 |
| 2022 | 10,912 | #9 | 6.2 |
| 2021 | 11,895 | #7 | 6.8 |
| 2020 | 12,264 | #7 | 7.1 |
| 2019 | 13,044 | #7 | 7.3 |
| 2018 | 13,488 | #6 | 7.4 |
| 2017 | 13,858 | #6 | 7.5 |
| 2016 | 14,686 | #6 | 7.7 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 13,732 | #10 | 7.2 |
| 2014 | 13,830 | #12 | 7.2 |
| 2013 | 13,515 | #14 | 7.1 |
| 2012 | 12,835 | #16 | 6.8 |
| 2011 | 13,082 | #19 | 6.9 |
| 2010 | 12,439 | #22 | 6.5 |
| 2009 | 13,123 | #19 | 6.6 |
| 2008 | 12,958 | #25 | 6.4 |
| 2007 | 13,282 | #26 | 6.4 |
| 2006 | 13,766 | #24 | 6.7 |
| 2005 | 13,586 | #25 | 6.8 |
| 2004 | 13,832 | #25 | 7.0 |
| 2003 | 14,086 | #24 | 7.1 |
| 2002 | 13,492 | #27 | 6.9 |
| 2001 | 14,339 | #27 | 7.4 |
| 2000 | 14,845 | #26 | 7.6 |
| 1999 | 13,666 | #29 | 7.1 |
| 1998 | 13,061 | #30 | 6.8 |
| 1997 | 13,266 | #29 | 7.0 |
| 1996 | 13,784 | #29 | 7.3 |
| 1995 | 12,720 | #31 | 6.7 |
| 1994 | 12,791 | #31 | 6.6 |
| 1993 | 12,686 | #32 | 6.5 |
| 1992 | 13,455 | #33 | 6.7 |
| 1991 | 13,877 | #33 | 6.9 |
| 1990 | 14,633 | #33 | 7.1 |
| 1989 | 15,733 | #29 | 7.9 |
| 1988 | 15,187 | #30 | 7.9 |
| 1987 | 14,892 | #28 | 8.0 |
| 1986 | 13,793 | #30 | 7.5 |
| 1985 | 13,423 | #31 | 7.3 |
| 1984 | 13,266 | #30 | 7.4 |
| 1983 | 13,285 | #32 | 7.4 |
| 1982 | 13,805 | #33 | 7.6 |
| 1981 | 14,360 | #32 | 8.0 |
| 1980 | 13,622 | #32 | 7.6 |
| 1979 | 12,512 | #33 | 7.3 |
| 1978 | 11,414 | #34 | 7.0 |
| 1977 | 12,106 | #29 | 7.4 |
| 1976 | 10,672 | #32 | 6.8 |
| 1975 | 9,544 | #36 | 6.1 |
| 1974 | 7,183 | #46 | 4.6 |
| 1973 | 5,226 | #55 | 3.4 |
| 1972 | 4,498 | #64 | 2.8 |
| 1971 | 4,251 | #69 | 2.4 |
| 1970 | 3,926 | #81 | 2.1 |
| 1969 | 3,379 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 1968 | 3,017 | #99 | 1.7 |
| 1967 | 2,504 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1966 | 2,377 | #130 | 1.3 |
| 1965 | 2,337 | #133 | 1.3 |
| 1964 | 2,503 | #131 | 1.3 |
| 1963 | 2,348 | #144 | 1.2 |
| 1962 | 2,507 | #140 | 1.2 |
| 1961 | 2,388 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1960 | 2,249 | #155 | 1.1 |
| 1959 | 2,331 | #150 | 1.1 |
| 1958 | 2,257 | #150 | 1.1 |
| 1957 | 2,489 | #138 | 1.2 |
| 1956 | 2,472 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1955 | 2,449 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1954 | 2,452 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1953 | 2,413 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1952 | 2,440 | #122 | 1.3 |
| 1951 | 2,345 | #123 | 1.2 |
| 1950 | 2,185 | #123 | 1.2 |
| 1949 | 2,016 | #135 | 1.1 |
| 1948 | 1,963 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1947 | 1,931 | #144 | 1.1 |
| 1946 | 1,655 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1945 | 1,562 | #140 | 1.2 |
| 1944 | 1,622 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1943 | 1,719 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1942 | 1,692 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1941 | 1,578 | #124 | 1.3 |
| 1940 | 1,446 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1939 | 1,423 | #124 | 1.3 |
| 1938 | 1,416 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1937 | 1,422 | #119 | 1.3 |
| 1936 | 1,354 | #123 | 1.3 |
| 1935 | 1,409 | #123 | 1.4 |
| 1934 | 1,483 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1933 | 1,413 | #118 | 1.4 |
| 1932 | 1,539 | #115 | 1.5 |
| 1931 | 1,560 | #113 | 1.5 |
| 1930 | 1,594 | #115 | 1.5 |
| 1929 | 1,695 | #107 | 1.6 |
| 1928 | 1,805 | #106 | 1.6 |
| 1927 | 1,925 | #101 | 1.7 |
| 1926 | 1,898 | #98 | 1.7 |
| 1925 | 2,069 | #93 | 1.9 |
| 1924 | 2,221 | #89 | 2.0 |
| 1923 | 2,316 | #86 | 2.1 |
| 1922 | 2,378 | #82 | 2.2 |
| 1921 | 2,412 | #82 | 2.2 |
| 1920 | 2,309 | #83 | 2.2 |
| 1919 | 2,279 | #79 | 2.3 |
| 1918 | 2,431 | #79 | 2.4 |
| 1917 | 2,386 | #76 | 2.6 |
| 1916 | 2,186 | #79 | 2.5 |
| 1915 | 2,241 | #71 | 2.6 |
| 1914 | 1,823 | #70 | 2.8 |
| 1913 | 1,466 | #70 | 2.9 |
| 1912 | 1,272 | #67 | 3.0 |
| 1911 | 690 | #64 | 3.1 |
| 1910 | 536 | #70 | 2.8 |
| 1909 | 489 | #63 | 3.0 |
| 1908 | 480 | #63 | 3.1 |
| 1907 | 460 | #64 | 3.1 |
| 1906 | 352 | #71 | 2.6 |
| 1905 | 379 | #68 | 2.9 |
| 1904 | 358 | #68 | 2.8 |
| 1903 | 324 | #69 | 2.7 |
| 1902 | 374 | #61 | 3.0 |
| 1901 | 343 | #56 | 3.2 |
| 1900 | 450 | #57 | 3.0 |
| 1899 | 335 | #57 | 3.2 |
| 1898 | 405 | #55 | 3.3 |
| 1897 | 378 | #54 | 3.4 |
| 1896 | 416 | #51 | 3.5 |
| 1895 | 452 | #48 | 3.9 |
| 1894 | 469 | #44 | 4.1 |
| 1893 | 482 | #42 | 4.3 |
| 1892 | 525 | #42 | 4.3 |
| 1891 | 461 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1890 | 537 | #37 | 4.8 |
| 1889 | 760 | #21 | 6.9 |
| 1888 | 781 | #25 | 6.5 |
| 1887 | 473 | #34 | 4.7 |
| 1886 | 463 | #39 | 4.2 |
| 1885 | 464 | #38 | 4.3 |
| 1884 | 509 | #38 | 4.4 |
| 1883 | 508 | #31 | 4.9 |
| 1882 | 478 | #34 | 4.2 |
| 1881 | 481 | #31 | 4.8 |
| 1880 | 490 | #32 | 4.4 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Benjamin a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Benjamin has been given almost only to boys: 2,482 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Benjamin: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Benjamin, and how old are they?
717,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 86% of the 829,312 Americans ever recorded as Benjamin. The median Benjamin alive today is 28 years old; half are between 15 and 42.
The 2020 Census counted 606,324 people named Benjamin (744 women and girls, 605,580 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 671,094 born in the U.S. The Census count is 10% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 5,410 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 29,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 98,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 211,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 212,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 160,000 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Benjamin born?
The states with the most babies named Benjamin are California, Texas and Florida, with 29% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1,257 | #9 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 929 | #19 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 660 | #9 | 0.8× |
| New York | 573 | #16 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 405 | #7 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 365 | #9 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 336 | #14 | 1.0× |
| Massachusetts | 312 | #7 | 1.3× |
| North Carolina | 300 | #16 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 299 | #12 | 0.8× |
Where Benjamin is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Benjamin is most over-represented in Maine: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Benjamin with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 840,356 babies since 1880, Benjamin is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 9,770 of their 9,795 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Benjamin
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Benjamin and names like it
- Compare Benjamin and BenjimanBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sBenjamin peaked in 1989.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Benjamin since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Benjamin: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1989The year the most babies were named Benjamin.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Benjamin alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with BMost given first.