What does Benjamin mean?

Benjamin means "son of the south, son"

How do we pronounce Benjamin?

Benjamin \be-nja-min, ben-jam-in\ is a boy's name. It consists of 8 letters and 3 syllables.

The baby boy name Benjamin is pronounced as BEHNJHahMihN in English, BehNZHaeMEHN in French, or BEHNYaaMiyN in German 1.

1 Pronunciation for Benjamin: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; JH as in "joy (JH.OY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; ZH as in "beige (B.EY.ZH" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; Y as in "you (Y.UW)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)"

What is the origin of Benjamin?

Benjamin is largely used in the English, French, German, and Hebrew languages. Its origin is Hebrew. The meaning of the name is son of the south, son of the right hand, son of my old age, favorite. Benyamin (Hebrew) is an older form of Benjamin. In the Bible, Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel, who went on to found one of the twelve tribes of Israel under his name. He was originally named Benoni meaning 'son of my sorrow' by his mother who died after childbirth. His father later renamed him Benyamin, which is of the first element 'ben' (son) with the second element 'yamin' (south, right, right hand) or 'yamim' (days). With 'yamin' (south, right, right hand), it is most likely that the meaning of the name is 'son of the south' in reference to the fact that Benjamin was Jacob's only son born in the southern Canaan instead of the northern Mesopotamia, or else it could mean 'son of my right hand' to indicate good luck and strength. With 'yamim' (days), the name has often been interpreted as 'son of my old age', as 'yamim' (days) can be taken to mean 'years', in reference to the fact that Benjamin was Jacob's youngest child, born to him and his wife in their old age. Another tradition is to take the meaning as 'favorite', as Benjamin was the pet of his father and elder siblings. In the Middle Ages, the name was often given to babies whose mothers had died in the childbirth like the biblical Rachel. The grim associations of the name were soon shed, and in the 17th century, the Puritans took to the name with renewed interest. It was then often given to the youngest child of elderly parents, or to a favorite son. It has also been commonly used by Jews, and in Scotland, it is sometimes taken as the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Beathan origin. In recent times, Benjamin has appeared as the name of the central character portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the popular film The Graduate (1967), contributing to a boost in its popularity. The name Benjamin is used to a great extent; it has 52 variant transcriptions that are used in both English and other languages.

Variation transcriptions of Benjamin used in English consist of short names for Banjamin, what does the name Bannerjee mean, Bejamin name, Benejamen definition, Bengamin name popularity, meaning of Benhy, Beni definition, Benja name popularity, name Benjahmin meaning, Benjaim name variations, Benjam meaning, what does the name Benjamain mean, meaning of Benjamine, name Benjamyn, Benjee name popularity, Benjemin definition, baby name Benjey, name Benkamin origin, baby name Benyamin, meaning of Benyamino, Binyamino meaning, Venjamin definition, and name Yamin meaning. Other English forms consist of the short forms nicknames for Ben (used in Dutch and Hebrew too) and Benj name, the familiar forms Benji meaning of name, Benjie pronounciation, Benjy name (used in German too), Bennie meaning, Benny meaning of name, and Jamin meaning and origin, and the variant spellings name Benjaman origin, Benjamen pronounciation, Benjamon meaning, Benjiman meaning, and Benjimen meaning and origin. Foreign variant transcriptions consist of what does the name Beniam mean (Ethiopian), Beniamin name popularity (Romanian), name Beniamino meaning (Italian), Benjamim name (Portuguese), name Benjamino origin (Italian), name Benjamín (Czech, Slavic, and Spanish), baby name Benjámin (Hungarian), Beno name variations (Dutch), name Binyamin (Hebrew), meaning of Bünyamin (Turkish), what does the name Mincho mean (Spanish), Peniamina definition (Hawaiian), Veniamin name (Russian and Slavic), name Venya (Russian), and name Venyamin meaning (Russian). Another foreign variant is the familiar form meaning of Bibi (Hebrew). Benjamin is very popular as a baby boy name. The name's popularity rose from the 1940s up to the 1980s. At the height of its usage in 1981, 0.771% of baby boys were given the name Benjamin. It was #32 in rank then. The baby name has seen a fall in popularity since then. In 2010, its usage was 0.604% and its ranking #22, but it was nonetheless the most popular within all boy names in its family. In 2010, Benjamin was used 37 times more than the subsequent ranked name, Ben definition.

The following famous people share the name Benjamin:

  • Actor Benjamin Bratt, born 16 December 1963, San Francisco, California
  • Bandleader Benjamin (Bert) Ambrose, born Benjamin Baruch Ambrose 15 September 1896 - 11 June 1971, London, England
  • Composer Benjamin Britten, born Edward Benjamin Britten 22 November 1913 - 4 December 1976, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England
  • Mathematician Benjamin Banneker, born 9 November 1731 - 9 October 1806, Ellicott City, Maryland
  • Physician Benjamin Spock, born 2 May 1903 - 15 March 1998, New Haven, Connecticut
  • Poet Ben Jonson, born Benjamin Jonson 11 June 1572 - 6 August 1637, Westminster, London, England
  • Politician Benjamin Netanyahu, born 21 October 1949, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Politician Benjamin Disraeli, born 21 December 1804 - 19 April 1881, London, England
  • Revolutionary War Figure Benjamin Franklin, born 17 January 1706 - 17 April 1790, Boston, Massachusetts
  • US President Benjamin Harrison, born 20 August 1833 - 13 March 1901, North Bend, Ohio.

List of baby names that sound like Benjamin:

what does the name Beniamin mean (Romanian), what does the name Benjamyn mean, short names for Banjamin, Bayani meaning, name Beanon meaning (Irish), Beinean name popularity (Irish), Beineon pronounciation (Irish), Bejamin definition, name Ben Ami meaning (Hebrew), Ben-Ami meaning (Hebrew), Ben-Oni name popularity, name Benaia origin, Benaiah pronounciation (English and Hebrew), name Benajah meaning (English and Hebrew), meaning of Benaya, Benayah name variations, what does the name Benejamen mean (English), Bengamin definition, Beniah meaning of name, and meaning of Beniam (Ethiopian).

The baby name Benjamin fun facts:

The name Benjamin in reverse order is "Nimajneb".

The numerological value of the name Benjamin is number 5, which means expansiveness, visionary, adventure, the constructive use of freedom.

How popular is Benjamin?

Benjamin is in the top names in USA.

YearUsage
20140.72%
20130.71%
20120.68%
20110.69%
20100.65%
20090.66%
20080.64%
20070.64%
Source: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames