Benton

Where Benton comes from

From either Old English bēan (“bean”) or *beonet (“bentgrass”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Benton
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1845
    Benton McMillin born
    American politician
  2. 1879
    Benton MacKaye born
    American forester
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #600 among boys — 10 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1883
    Peak, #412
    18 babies named Benton — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1886
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #647.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Benton McMillin · American politician, 1845–1933
  • Benton MacKaye · American forester, 1879–1975
  • Benton Jay Hall · American politician, 1835–1894
  • Benton J. Underwood · American psychologist, 1915–1994
  • Benton Johnson · American sociologist, 1928–2024

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.