Benjamin Name Meaning

Whether being called Benjamin, Ben, Benny or Benji, there is little doubt in the popularity of the name over the years. Benjamin has been a staple on the the Social Security Administration’s most popular baby names chart, hovering under the radar before cracking the top ten for the first time in 2016.

While Benjamin is a reliable fixture in the SSA’s rankings, the name has a lineage reaching all the way back to ancient times. He originated in Hebrew and means “son of my right hand,” the perfect name for any parents’ little buddy.

Benjamin has been a leader throughout history with Benjamin Franklin and President Benjamin Harrison bearing the name along with English politician Benjamin Disraeli. He’s also a biblical choice, used in the Old Testament as Jacob’s youngest son and the founder of a Hebrew tribe.

For parents, Benjamin is trustworthy and reliably stylish. He’s a solid and respected boy’s name that does not have a history of overuse like James or John. With multiple nicknames available, Benjamin is also a flexible choice, allowing for both informal and formal usage while remaining trendy and traditional, all at the same time. Other Ben– names include Bennett, Bentley, and Benson.

Infographic of Benjamin name meaning, which is Meaning a favorite son, Benjamin comes from the Hebrew ben yamin, son of the right hand.
Ask your friends & family about Benjamin…

Benjamin Name Popularity

How popular is the name Benjamin? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 71 497 0.1412%
1911 64 645 0.1732%
1912 67 1,245 0.2469%
1913 70 1,451 0.2559%
1914 70 1,802 0.2586%
1915 71 2,231 0.2456%
1916 79 2,169 0.2245%
1917 76 2,372 0.2371%
1918 78 2,426 0.226%
1919 79 2,272 0.217%
1920 83 2,304 0.2072%
1921 81 2,406 0.2101%
1922 82 2,369 0.2126%
1923 86 2,306 0.2059%
1924 89 2,206 0.19%
1925 93 2,054 0.1817%
1926 98 1,881 0.171%
1927 101 1,904 0.172%
1928 105 1,776 0.166%
1929 107 1,676 0.1618%
1930 114 1,580 0.1513%
1931 112 1,546 0.1566%
1932 117 1,512 0.153%
1933 118 1,401 0.1504%
1934 117 1,456 0.1506%
1935 123 1,389 0.1429%
1936 123 1,324 0.1374%
1937 119 1,396 0.1417%
1938 127 1,386 0.1354%
1939 124 1,403 0.1379%
1940 128 1,424 0.134%
1941 125 1,549 0.1376%
1942 130 1,659 0.1314%
1943 130 1,694 0.1298%
1944 128 1,615 0.1303%
1945 140 1,545 0.1267%
1946 146 1,644 0.1114%
1947 144 1,908 0.1143%
1948 141 1,942 0.1217%
1949 133 2,010 0.125%
1950 123 2,177 0.1352%
1951 123 2,332 0.1375%
1952 122 2,432 0.1393%
1953 128 2,410 0.1362%
1954 132 2,440 0.1335%
1955 132 2,438 0.1325%
1956 130 2,458 0.1301%
1957 138 2,481 0.1289%
1958 151 2,231 0.118%
1959 149 2,327 0.1225%
1960 155 2,230 0.1177%
1961 146 2,385 0.1263%
1962 140 2,501 0.1362%
1963 144 2,337 0.1302%
1964 131 2,494 0.1417%
1965 133 2,327 0.1423%
1966 129 2,361 0.1512%
1967 119 2,495 0.1644%
1968 99 3,016 0.2009%
1969 91 3,373 0.2189%
1970 81 3,930 0.247%
1971 69 4,251 0.2829%
1972 64 4,504 0.3307%
1973 55 5,235 0.4038%
1974 46 7,189 0.5531%
1975 36 9,552 0.7433%
1976 32 10,680 0.8287%
1977 29 12,112 0.8986%
1978 34 11,415 0.849%
1979 33 12,520 0.8879%
1980 32 13,635 0.9325%
1981 32 14,354 0.9765%
1982 33 13,818 0.9247%
1983 32 13,287 0.9004%
1984 30 13,263 0.8916%
1985 31 13,428 0.8847%
1986 30 13,789 0.9135%
1987 28 14,880 0.9751%
1988 30 15,185 0.9744%
1989 29 15,730 0.9748%
1990 33 14,621 0.8821%
1991 33 13,872 0.8511%
1992 33 13,452 0.8428%
1993 33 12,679 0.8133%
1994 31 12,787 0.8332%
1995 31 12,715 0.8437%
1996 29 13,777 0.9201%
1997 29 13,266 0.897%
1998 30 13,059 0.8725%
1999 29 13,660 0.9122%
2000 26 14,840 0.9714%
2001 27 14,329 0.951%
2002 27 13,478 0.8994%
2003 24 14,073 0.925%
2004 25 13,818 0.9066%
2005 25 13,572 0.8877%
2006 24 13,755 0.8785%
2007 26 13,275 0.8414%
2008 25 12,946 0.8376%
2009 19 13,111 0.8772%
2010 22 12,428 0.8624%
2011 19 13,061 0.9167%
2012 16 12,821 0.8997%
2013 14 13,494 0.9478%
2014 12 13,790 0.9465%
2015 10 13,692 0.941%
2016 6 14,629 1.0146%
2017 6 13,733 0.9839%
2018 6 13,381 0.9739%
2019 7 12,942 0.956%
2020 7 11,938 0.9379%
2021 7 11,791 0.9646%
2022 9 10,680 0.8096%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Benjamin

If you like Benjamin, you’ll love these other names like Benjamin.

What names are diminutives of Benjamin?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Benjamin sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Benjamin, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Ben

Son

Hebrew

Benjee

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjey

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benji

Son; son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjie

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjy

Son; son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benn

Son; son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Bennie

Son; blessed; son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Latin

Benno

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benny

Son; son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Bibi

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Jamin

Son of the right hand

Hebrew

Yamin

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Yemin

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

What names are variants of Benjamin?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Benjamin.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Benejamen

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Beniamino

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjaman

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjamen

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjamino

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjamon

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjiman

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benjimen

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benyamin

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Benyamino

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Binyamin

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Binyamino

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Veniamin

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Venyamin

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

Yamino

Son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age

Hebrew

What names sound like Benjamin?

If you like how Benjamin sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Benjamin.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Benaiah

God builds

Hebrew

Bendt
Benedict

Blessed

Latin

Benito

Blessed

Latin

Bennett

Blessed

English

Benniton

Little blessed one

American

Benson

Son of Ben

Bentley

Bent grass meadow

English

What names are similar to Benjamin?

Find a name that’s like Benjamin, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Aaron

High mountain

Hebrew

Daniel

God is My Judge

Hebrew

George

Farmer

Greek

Henry

Home ruler

English

Joel

Yahweh is God

Hebrew

John

God is gracious

Hebrew

Joseph

Jehovah will increase

Hebrew

Louis

Famous warrior

French

Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

William

A willing protector

German

Lists With Benjamin

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Benjamin.

Siblings of Benjamin

Mamas with kids named Benjamin also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Jack

God is gracious

English

Graham

Gravelled homestead

English

Raquel

Ewe

Spanish

Miguel

Who is Like God?

Spanish

Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

Justice

To deliver what is just

English

Katilin
Donald

Great chief; world mighty

Scottish

Lucille

Of the light

French

Ella

Other goddess

Hebrew

Sofia

Wisdom

Greek

Josephine

God will increase

Hebrew

53 Comments

  1. Nice strong name from the Bible.
    Means “son of the right hand”.

    Reply

  2. My husband and I were reading the bible when Benjamin was still in my womb. The verse my husband was reading aloud explained what Benjamin meant: son of the right hand. That moment I knew that’s the name I wanted and my husband agreed and thought the same because the meaning of his name.

    Reply

  3. It was important to pick a name that sounded great with his last name

    Reply

  4. I chose this name because I wanted a long name that sounded almost the same in English and Portuguese.

    Reply

  5. Benjamin was named after my mom’s father for his first name and after my dad’s middle name, Colin, for a shared, family middle name.

    Reply

  6. He is not my favorite son let me tell you that. That RASCAL eats his sister’s hair at night. I just don’t understand why I named him Ben when Ben means something so honorable. Like why does my CHILD eat hair! That is bizarre. Anyways how do I stop this? My older son, Evan, is a great kid that has everything going for him. While my daughter, Chloe, is a saint. Yet, Ben came from my ex husband’s genes because he is weird and I just don’t see a future for him.

    Reply

    • You shouldn’t talk about your own child that way. You shouldn’t be mother. You shouldn’t have favourites and instead of parenting and guiding your child you decided to give up and insult him. Your child does not deserve to be in the care of such a terrible mother.

      Reply

  7. Family name, loved Benji as a nickname

    Reply

  8. Hummm, that my name my dads love calling me that name so much, I could remember when I was younger he always ask me to seat at is right hand side!

    Reply

  9. Benjamin is a Biblical name which we loved but its also the only boy name we both could agree on since I’m apparently very picky about boys names.

    Reply

  10. I chose it because it means right hand of God and I had a dream 12 years ago I would birth a boy. I had that dream on and off over the years and one day he told me as a teenager his name.

    Reply

  11. It’s his father’s name ?

    Reply

  12. Just loved the classic name, and really liked Ben as a short form.

    Reply

  13. We chose Benjamin because my husband was supposed to be named that, but his mom changed her mind last minute. I like that it is three syllables and has many nicknames you can get from it.

    Reply

  14. Good Jewish name, masculine but sweet not overbearing, people know how to spell it and it has a lot of nicknames to choose from

    Reply

    • I am glad you enjoy this name! :3

      Reply

  15. I have had a girls name picked since I was 12, but the boy has always escaped me. During my first trimester, I had a dream I was pregnant with twins and the boys name was Benjamin. I told Daddy about it and he immediately loved it!

    Reply

  16. I just love that it’s a classic strong name and I love the short form Ben.

    Reply

  17. It is Jewish.has nice meaning.traditional not old fashioned.
    Different ways how to call the baby incl.short Ben

    Reply

  18. It was simply a biblical name that both my husband and I really loved

    Reply

  19. There are baby girls named Benjamin. It’s true.
    Real true.

    Reply

  20. My hubby chose the name Benjamin because in the bible, Benjamin was the youngest son (child) of Jacob. Benjamin is our third and final baby!

    Reply

  21. Meaning: Son of the right hand.
    Nicknames: Benji, Benny Boy, Benjabunny

    Reply

  22. Hi I actually use this app a lot and in my Class we are learning about Benjamin Zephaniah and I love the meaning even though I’m really picky with names and if I like a name I’m just stuck on it for ages Bye x

    Reply

  23. I love the name. I really like Benji as a nickname. He has an older brother, Levi, I like that they both have I’s at the end but don’t rhyme. His middle name is Hudson (My maiden name.) which I think is so special. We thought about the name Caleb, although I wanted to save it for another kid which paid off! We just named Caleb Ross. Benji is such a good big brother already.

    Reply

  24. This was a name not used yet by our family and we liked it ?

    Reply

  25. Daddy wanted that name, it means “son of my right hand”. I’m sure he will indeed be his daddy’s special sidekick.

    Reply

  26. It’s a beautiful name and it has a beautiful meaning

    Reply

  27. Truth be told, my husband got free reign on our second child’s name, because despite initially hating our firstborns name, he knew how important it was to me that our firstborn be named it. My husband and I really have a hard time agreeing on baby names. He likes super generic names while I don’t want my children sharing the same name as 5 other kids in their grade etc.
    We both had liked Benjamin but agreed that we would want the baby to go by Benji if we ever used the name Benjamin. When our second was born and we found out it was a boy my husband suddenly couldn’t decide on that or Gideon. Turns out our firstborn was the one who made the decision a day later when she saw the baby for the first time and called him Benji. My husband was relieved to finally have a name chosen and has officially declared that he never wants sole responsibility for naming one of our children. 🙂

    Reply

  28. He’s 2

    Reply

  29. We chose the name Benjamin because of the biblical meaning behind it.

    Reply

  30. We named our son Benjamin Benedict. Benjamin because sounds perfect in many languages and Benedict because of my father. We are not americans, so later we realized that both names has the nick name “Ben“. Do you think it was a bad chose?

    Reply

    • “Ben-Ben” sounds good actually.

      Reply

  31. I was born and raised in Germany, and our son was conceived while visiting the country. I wanted a name that was a little more traditionally German and this one stuck. We love that he’s the only one in our circle with this name, and it has many cute nick name options.

    Reply

  32. We are raising a bilingual family and the name Benjamin is spelled the same in both spanish and english, but pronounced differently. Perfect for him to identify the different language depending on how his name is being pronounced, yet easy to write someday because the spelling doesn’t change 🙂

    Reply

  33. My sons father picked out his name. He’s our second born son! He got to pick the name. I actually wanted to name him Archie Alexander! But fell in love with Benjamin!

    Reply

  34. Benjamin was just one of the few names my husband and I both liked.

    Reply

  35. We named our baby after my dad who passed away in 2014.

    Reply

  36. I chose Benjamin because it was a biblical name. I also chose his name because Benjamin was the youngest child of Israel and Benjamin is my last baby.

    Reply

  37. My 5 year old daughter started calling our unnamed baby “Benji“, which gave my husband the idea of Benjamin! After he mentioned it, I just thought he did actually look like a benjamin so it stuck 🙂

    Reply

  38. May 4th. May the forth be with you. He is my little ben solo

    Reply

  39. Name after a state park in Arkansas

    Reply

  40. Handsome

    Reply

  41. Beautiful boy

    Reply

  42. I chose the name Benjamin because of my faith. It is a biblical name and means son of my right hand. Referring to being a favorite. It was the son of Jacob in the Bible and he loved him very much. This is my first baby but he is my favorite as he is the first.

    Reply

  43. God give that name to my mother in law..

    I like the name Benjamin because it means the right hand of the father…

    Reply

  44. I have never met a mean Ben in my life and have always loved the name. Then when I looked into the meaning of it, I saw that biblically many families named their youngest son Benjamin. It also means son of the right hand. Our Benjamin is our youngest son, so I thought that was a great fit. I just think it’s a great name!

    Reply

  45. Of course my husband’s name is one of the popular names. Whereas mine hasn’t been in favor since the 1930’s. I belong to different generation lol.

    Reply

  46. My husband named him just have always loved the name Benjamin:)

    Reply

  47. He is our third and, we thought, our last. Benjamin is the name of the youngest son of the tribes of Israel, so we thought it appropriate for our youngest. We don’t know any other kids with this name after three years.

    Reply

  48. I was looking for a name that came with several cute nickname options. I never really had much of a nickname growing up and always wanted one. We call him Benji, Ben, and Benny.

    Reply

  49. Mu husband’s name is Israel…And in the Bible, the last son of Israel was Benjamin, that he had with his beloved favorite wife Raquel…And Raquel is my daughter’s name…So I found that this is the perfect name for a little boy of Israel LOL. And I just love this name…It means “son of the right hand” and Benjamin in the Bible stood by his father’s side till the end. I do love this story.

    Reply

  50. This was just a name we liked. Possible nicknames are: Benja (our favorite) and Ben. Goes great with a one syllable middle name.
    Possible dislike (but does not bother us) is it’s pretty lengthy in letters.

    Reply

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