Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys
Origin: FrenchBenjamin is a common given name for males, derived from Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין, Binyāmīn, translating as 'son of the right [hand]' in both Hebrew and Arabic languages, although in the Samaritan Pentateuch the name appears as Binyaamem: 'son of my days'.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Benjamin yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Benjamin peaked comparatively long ago for a name still in the current top 15: 15,733 births in 1989. From there it's been a slow, multi-decade slide rather than a recent turn — 9,814 births in 2024, 29% below where it stood ten years earlier.
It's been recorded since 1880, giving it well over a century of steady, largely unspectacular use — never a chart-topper like William or James, but rarely absent from the top tier either, a kind of durability without ever needing a single breakout moment.
Its famous-bearer list is dominated by early American figures — Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison — reflecting the name's deep roots in US naming culture specifically, distinct from names like Mateo or Theodore whose rises are more recent and less tied to any particular national historical figure.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Benjamin · Compare Benjamin with another name → · Popular names of the 1980s · Boys names starting with B
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 490 | #32 |
| 1881 | 481 | #31 |
| 1882 | 478 | #34 |
| 1883 | 508 | #31 |
| 1884 | 509 | #38 |
| 1885 | 464 | #38 |
| 1886 | 463 | #39 |
| 1887 | 473 | #34 |
| 1888 | 781 | #25 |
| 1889 | 760 | #21 |
| 1890 | 537 | #37 |
| 1891 | 461 | #41 |
| 1892 | 525 | #42 |
| 1893 | 482 | #42 |
| 1894 | 469 | #44 |
| 1895 | 452 | #48 |
| 1896 | 416 | #51 |
| 1897 | 378 | #54 |
| 1898 | 405 | #55 |
| 1899 | 335 | #57 |
| 1900 | 450 | #57 |
| 1901 | 343 | #56 |
| 1902 | 374 | #61 |
| 1903 | 324 | #69 |
| 1904 | 358 | #68 |
| 1905 | 379 | #68 |
| 1906 | 352 | #71 |
| 1907 | 460 | #64 |
| 1908 | 480 | #63 |
| 1909 | 489 | #63 |
| 1910 | 536 | #70 |
| 1911 | 690 | #64 |
| 1912 | 1,272 | #67 |
| 1913 | 1,466 | #70 |
| 1914 | 1,823 | #70 |
| 1915 | 2,241 | #71 |
| 1916 | 2,186 | #79 |
| 1917 | 2,386 | #76 |
| 1918 | 2,431 | #79 |
| 1919 | 2,279 | #79 |
| 1920 | 2,309 | #83 |
| 1921 | 2,412 | #82 |
| 1922 | 2,378 | #82 |
| 1923 | 2,316 | #86 |
| 1924 | 2,221 | #89 |
| 1925 | 2,069 | #93 |
| 1926 | 1,898 | #98 |
| 1927 | 1,925 | #101 |
| 1928 | 1,805 | #106 |
| 1929 | 1,695 | #107 |
| 1930 | 1,594 | #115 |
| 1931 | 1,559 | #113 |
| 1932 | 1,540 | #115 |
| 1933 | 1,413 | #118 |
| 1934 | 1,483 | #117 |
| 1935 | 1,409 | #123 |
| 1936 | 1,354 | #123 |
| 1937 | 1,422 | #119 |
| 1938 | 1,416 | #125 |
| 1939 | 1,423 | #124 |
| 1940 | 1,446 | #128 |
| 1941 | 1,578 | #124 |
| 1942 | 1,692 | #129 |
| 1943 | 1,719 | #130 |
| 1944 | 1,622 | #130 |
| 1945 | 1,562 | #140 |
| 1946 | 1,655 | #146 |
| 1947 | 1,931 | #144 |
| 1948 | 1,962 | #140 |
| 1949 | 2,016 | #135 |
| 1950 | 2,186 | #123 |
| 1951 | 2,345 | #123 |
| 1952 | 2,440 | #122 |
| 1953 | 2,413 | #128 |
| 1954 | 2,453 | #132 |
| 1955 | 2,448 | #132 |
| 1956 | 2,472 | #131 |
| 1957 | 2,489 | #138 |
| 1958 | 2,255 | #150 |
| 1959 | 2,333 | #150 |
| 1960 | 2,246 | #155 |
| 1961 | 2,388 | #146 |
| 1962 | 2,507 | #140 |
| 1963 | 2,349 | #144 |
| 1964 | 2,504 | #131 |
| 1965 | 2,337 | #133 |
| 1966 | 2,377 | #130 |
| 1967 | 2,506 | #119 |
| 1968 | 3,017 | #99 |
| 1969 | 3,379 | #91 |
| 1970 | 3,927 | #81 |
| 1971 | 4,250 | #69 |
| 1972 | 4,498 | #64 |
| 1973 | 5,227 | #55 |
| 1974 | 7,183 | #46 |
| 1975 | 9,545 | #36 |
| 1976 | 10,672 | #32 |
| 1977 | 12,107 | #29 |
| 1978 | 11,414 | #34 |
| 1979 | 12,514 | #33 |
| 1980 | 13,626 | #32 |
| 1981 | 14,361 | #32 |
| 1982 | 13,813 | #33 |
| 1983 | 13,286 | #32 |
| 1984 | 13,269 | #30 |
| 1985 | 13,427 | #31 |
| 1986 | 13,793 | #30 |
| 1987 | 14,890 | #28 |
| 1988 | 15,187 | #30 |
| 1989 | 15,733 | #29 |
| 1990 | 14,630 | #33 |
| 1991 | 13,879 | #33 |
| 1992 | 13,455 | #33 |
| 1993 | 12,685 | #33 |
| 1994 | 12,791 | #31 |
| 1995 | 12,719 | #31 |
| 1996 | 13,785 | #29 |
| 1997 | 13,266 | #29 |
| 1998 | 13,061 | #30 |
| 1999 | 13,666 | #29 |
| 2000 | 14,844 | #26 |
| 2001 | 14,339 | #27 |
| 2002 | 13,492 | #27 |
| 2003 | 14,086 | #24 |
| 2004 | 13,829 | #25 |
| 2005 | 13,585 | #25 |
| 2006 | 13,765 | #24 |
| 2007 | 13,280 | #26 |
| 2008 | 12,958 | #25 |
| 2009 | 13,121 | #19 |
| 2010 | 12,438 | #22 |
| 2011 | 13,079 | #19 |
| 2012 | 12,833 | #16 |
| 2013 | 13,513 | #14 |
| 2014 | 13,827 | #12 |
| 2015 | 13,732 | #10 |
| 2016 | 14,682 | #6 |
| 2017 | 13,854 | #6 |
| 2018 | 13,483 | #6 |
| 2019 | 13,036 | #7 |
| 2020 | 12,254 | #7 |
| 2021 | 11,889 | #7 |
| 2022 | 10,904 | #9 |
| 2023 | 10,212 | #11 |
| 2024 | 9,814 | #11 |
