Baby Name of the Day: Benjamin

The baby name Benjamin reads classic, reliable, and oh so approachable.

From an Old Testament patriarch to a Founding Father, a friendly bear, and a famous rabbit, there are plenty of Bens to inspire parents.

Thanks to Ashlie for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

WHAT DOES THE NAME BENJAMIN MEAN?

Let’s start with the Old Testament.

Benjamin is the youngest son of Jacob’s dozen boys, and hence, the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Hebrew, his name means either “son of the right hand,” “son of my days,” or possibly “son of the south.”

There’s more to his story, but as a name, the tale is a familiar one. Benjamin was overlooked by Christian families until after the Reformation, when we see a rise in the name’s use.

It would’ve spelled closer to Binyamin originally, and that spelling is still preferred in some part of the world. 

Benjamin or Benjamine is also used in French to refer to the youngest child in a family. It’s a reference to the Biblical story.

BEN FRANKLIN

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin started out as a printer and newspaper editor. He became a widely respected writer, civic leader, and statesman. While Franklin eventually served as Ambassador to France, we remember him more as a scientist and inventor. Franklin also established many civic organizations, including the city of Philadelphia’s first fire department. He also played a key role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania.

It’s hard to say just how common the name was in Colonial America. Franklin was the fifteenth of seventeen children, so family names might have been exhausted by the time of his birth.

Like many Old Testament names, it became more common following the Protestant Reformation. Franklin’s siblings included Ebenezer and Lydia, and his parents were Abiah and Josiah, so even if the name wasn’t common, the style would have been familiar.

Because Franklin’s image is on the $100 bill, benjamins is slang for money and wealth – a funny twist for a man who famously wrote under the pen name Poor Richard.

18th and 19th CENTURY BENJAMINS

Benjamin Banneker authored almanacs and worked as a surveyor in Baltimore in the late 1700s. The son of a former slave, he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, famously taking him to task for continuing to own slaves.

Sir Benjamin Hall oversaw the installation of the Great Bell in Augustus Pugin’s neo-Gothic Clock Tower near Parliament on the River Thames in London. That’s one possible reason the bell was long been called Big Ben. But at the time, heavyweight boxing champ Ben Caunt was known as Big Ben, so it’s possible that’s how the landmark got its name.

British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli served in the 1860s and 1870s, during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Benjamin Pierce was a Revolutionary War veteran who later served as Governor of New Hampshire. 

In the US, Benjamin Harrison became the 23rd President of the United States in 1889, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, 9th President William Henry Harrison. Benjamin was a family name. The first Harrison to arrive in the New World was Benjamin Harrison, who came to Jamestown, Virginia in 1630.

Wealthy businessman Benjamin Guggenheim was born in 1865, and lost his life on the Titanic in 1912.

Brothers Robert and Benjamin Moore founded a paint company in Brooklyn in the 1880s. It’s still around today.

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny followed Peter Rabbit, making Beatrix Potter the world’s foremost expert on rabbits in a children’s book. 

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS

Famous people by the name include:

• Hollywood gives us actors Benjamin Bratt, Kingsley, Stiller, Platt, Affleck, and McKenzie.
• NFL veteran Roethlisberger, along with plenty of other athletes.
• Musicians Madden – usually known as Benji – and Folds.

Fiction gives us plenty of Bens, too:

• It’s the little brother on 80s sitcom favorite Growing Pains, the real first name of Benjamin “Hawkeye” Pierce on M.A.S.H., and a bad(ish) guy on Lost, a main character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and many others.
• Benjamin Tennyson was the main character in Cartoon Network’s Ben 10. 
• A 1972 horror movie gave Michael Jackson his first solo #1 hit: “Ben,” nominated for an Oscar and winner of a Golden Globe.
• In 2008, Brad Pitt starred in an adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
• Gentle Ben, a children’s story and television series follows a boy and a friendly brown bear.
• From 1974 through the early 2000s, Benji was a lovable stray dog who saved the day.

The baby name Benjamin has become a go-to, every-guy name. It feels solid, reliable, just plain nice.

NICKNAMES ABOUND

Choose Benjamin as a full name and it easily shortens to Ben, but also Benny, Benji, or even Jamie. 

Like many classic boy names, Benjamin is infinitely flexible.

Worth noting: despite the rise of names like Charlie, Scottie, and Frankie for girls, none of the Ben- variations have crossed gender lines. 

Benjamin is sometimes a last name, and feminine forms like Benjamina and Benjamine are occasionally heard. 

BEN, BEN, and BEN

The current US Top 1000 includes other Ben names, too. As wildly popular as the baby name Benjamin has become, Ben is also short for Bennett and Bentley. And other possibilities, like Benedict and Benicio, are heard, too.

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME BENJAMIN? 

The baby name Benjamin ranked in the US Top 100 from 1880 into the 1920s, so it’s not surprising to find plenty of notables in the history books. 

The name fits with classics like John and Henry. never leaving the US Top 200.

By 1968, the baby name Benjamin was back in the Top 100 again.

It entered the US Top Ten in 2015, and stands at #11 as of 2024.

RELIABLE, CLASSIC CHOICE FOR A SON

The baby name Benjamin feels reliable. It’s a solid choice for a son, a handsome name worn by men of accomplishment. But it’s sweet for a child, a friendly and approachable name that never grows old.

In other words? If you like your names classic and timeless, Benjamin might just be the perfect baby name for your family. 

What do you think of the baby name Benjamin?

First published on March 25, 2015, this post was revised substantially on September 15, 2021 and again on April 29, 2026.