Boy Names baby nameBenjamin

What does the name Benjamin mean?

The different meanings of the name Benjamin are:
  • American meaning: Born of the right hand
  • French meaning: Born of the right hand
  • Hebrew meaning: A son of the south, or the son of the right hand
  • Spanish meaning: Born of the right hand
The meaning of the name “Benjamin” is different in several languages, countries and cultures and has more than one possibly same or different meanings available.

Additional information: This is a male name which is pronounced as /BEN jah min/. It means either “son of the right hand” or “son of the south.” The first name implies a close relationship with the son taken as the son to be sitting at your right hand. “Benjamin” comes from the Hebrew name “Binyamin.” The biblical story of Benjamin, the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob, mentions that he was originally named “Bin-‘oniy,” which translates to “son of my sorrow,” but his name was changed after his mother’s death.

The nicknames that are given to the people who are called by this name include:Ben, Benny, Bennie, Benji, Benjy and Bibi. Its feminine form is Benjamine. It is also commonly found as a surname. Benjamin" is slang for the US 100 dollar bill.

It is spelt different by people from different parts of the world. It is spelt as Binyamin in Arabic, Beniamin in Greek, Bannerjee in Irish, Benjamim in Portuguese, Venyamin in Russian and as Benjemín in Spanish.

In 2015, Benjamin entered the top 10 list of the most popular boy names, ranking at the 10th position. For 2014, it was the 12thmost popular name in the United States. In Canada, it ranks number 7, and number 28 in the United Kingdom. Some of the celebrities who are called Benjamin are: Benjamin Franklin who is an American statesman, inventor, and diplomat, Benjamin Netanyahu who is the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Harrison who was a U.S. president, Benjamin “Ben” Affleck who is an American actor, Benjamin “Ben” Stiller who is an American actor, Benjamin Button the protagonist of the F. Scott Fitzgerald story that bears his name and Benjamin Braddock the protagonist of the film The Graduate.

Traditional with origins in the Bible, the name Benjamin has remained a classic, strong boy’s name since at least the 18th century. While the name has always stayed in the top 100, it has been steadily growing in popularity in the United States, climbing from 26th place to 12th place between 2000 and 2014. Benjamin was the 24th most popular boy's name in the US in 2006, and the 11th most popular in the UK. If you want to pay homage to polyglot founding father Ben Franklin, or give your son a traditional name, Benjamin is an excellent option. Its many nicknames offer possibilities if you don’t always want to use the admittedly long name, and more distinctive variants are available from foreign languages.