The name Benjamin already appears in the Old Testament and means ‘son of the right hand’ or ‘son of fortune’. For a biblical name, surely not surprising that it originally comes from the Hebrew.
Benjamin is a first name typically given to boys, but in rare cases also used as a girls name.
In the US, Benjamin is one of the most popular names ever. In the SmartGenius ranking recently, it has regularly been among the top 10 most common boys names and is currently in place 8. In fact, one out auf 300 boys under the age of 10 is named Benjamin. In total, there are currently 778,314 people – children, adults and seniors – named Benjamin living in the United States, which is approximately 0.23 % of the entire population.
The name Benjamin already appears in the Old Testament and means ‘son of the right hand’ or ‘son of fortune’. For a biblical name, surely not surprising that it originally comes from the Hebrew.
Did you know... that the expression 'the Benjamin of the family' often refers to the youngest child. This idiom derives from the fact that Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob in the Bible.
Benjamin Clementine (*1988)
With his style of blues, pop and jazz elements, the London native has made a name for himself at relevant jazz festivals.
Benjamin Button
Benjamin Button is the main character of a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was made into a movie of the same name 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
The writer, inventor and statesman was one of the founding fathers of the USA, he participated in the drafting of the United States Declaration of Independence and was one of its signatories. He also conducted research in the field of electricity and invented the lightning rod.
Benjamin Netanjahu (*1949)
Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu, also Netanyahu is an Israeli politician. He was Israeli Prime Minister several times and for many years. For several years, various criminal proceedings have been underway against Netanyahu for corruption and taking advantage in office.
When you hear the name Benjamin, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Benjamin? Are you also called Benjamin? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
Benjamin is a region in the West Bank named after the settlement area of the tribe of the same name.
places with the name Benjamin in the U.S., including the states of Missouri, Pennsylvania or Utah.
and brooks bear the name, for example the Benjamin River or the Benjamin Brook, both in the US state Maine.
In the US state of Florida there is an island called Benjamin Island.
also bear the name Benjamin in the United States: There is the Benjamin Mine in Utah or the Benjamin Prospect in Alabama.
In Antarctica, a mountain bears the name Benjamin - it is named after the meteorologist Benjamin F. Smith.
History tends to focus on the most famous and the best. But even those who play second fiddle leave their mark: Benjamin is one of those names without which the orchestra would be incomplete. In fact, Benjamin has reached the SmartGenius top ranking of #6 more than once - and again, not too long ago, the last time being in 2017. But even though the peak of popularity was not so long ago, the name Benjamin has been given to newborn boys every year since records began. Benjamin is a name of exceptional, enduring popularity, carrying the special vibes of the 20th century into the 21st.
In years where the graph has no value, the name Benjamin was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
The popularity of the traditional name Benjamin peaked only recently: the name has definitely arrived in the 21st century. Benjamin has made it into the top ten more than once, in 2022 it was #9 in our statistics: the chances of meeting a Benjamin are pretty high these days. Traditional names often prove to be perennial favorites, so who knows, maybe Benjamin will eventually become one of the most popular names of all time.
Wherever you go, wherever you live – there’s a good chance to meet Benjamin. Because: There are men and boys named Benjamin in every state in the USA. This may sound quite unspectacular at first, but in fact, of the nearly 50,000 different male first names that occur in the USA, just 386 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Benjamin is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 100 of the most popular male first names, for example in Utah, where Benjamin ranks on position 21. The greatest chance of meeting Benjamin, however, is in New Hampshire, where one in 107 boys and men bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 215 men and boys and in Mississippi, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 304 men and boys for their name before you once get Benjamin as an answer.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter B is neither particularly common nor particularly rare as a first letter for boys' names: 4.2% of all common boys' names in the US begin with this letter. The most common first letters of boys' names are J and A, while X and U are the least common initials of boys' names.
With eight letters, the name Benjamin is long compared to other names. In fact, 14.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly eight letters. 78% of all first names are shorter, while only 8% of all boys’ and girls’ names use nine letters or even more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long with no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
Thus, it follows that if 4.2% of all boys' names start with a B, this initial letter occurs about as often as all 26 letters on average. And maybe interesting to know: Brian is the boys’ name starting with B, which is the most common of all.
If your name is Benjamin and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Benjamin, you can simply say:
Butterfly
Elephant
Nut
Joker
Apple
Mouse
Igloo
Nut
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
Benjamin
Benjamin
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
B
E
N
J
A
M
I
N
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
B
E
N
J
A
M
I
N
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Benjamin sounds like this:
