Benjamin

Where Benjamin comes from

From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean "days" (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean "son of days (i.e. old age)" (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) "son of the days" and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) "son of the right hand"), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob's old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean "right" in the sense of "the south", noting that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the south. Jerome understood the name to mean "son of the right hand" and Gesenius speculated that this expression might have meant "son of good fortune".
— Wiktionary's entry for Benjamin
  • Hebrew
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1706
    Benjamin Franklin born
    American polymath and statesman
  2. 1804
    Benjamin Disraeli born
    British statesman
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #32 among boys — 490 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 2016
    Peak, #6
    14,686 babies named Benjamin — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2016
    The comeback
    Back to #6 after sinking to #155 in 1960.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
Namesakes
  • Benjamin Franklin · American polymath and statesman, 1706–1790
  • Benjamin Disraeli · British statesman, 1804–1881
  • Benjamin Harrison · President of the United States, 1889-1893, 1833–1901
  • Benjamin Constant · French-Swiss politician, writer on politics and religion, 1767–1830
  • Benjamin Britten · English composer, conductor, and pianist, 1913–1976

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.