Popularity of the name Benjamin, 1880–2025
Benjamin was at its most popular in 1981, when 14,360 boys were given the name: about 1 in 120 boys born in the U.S. that year, ranking #32. In 2025, 9,762 boys were named Benjamin, ranking #11. In all, Social Security counts 826,830 boys named Benjamin since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 2,482 girls named Benjamin.
- Peak year
- 1981
- Rank in 1981
- #32
- Babies in 1981
- 14,360
- Rank in 2025
- #11
- Total since 1880
- 826,830
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #10 in 2015 to #11 in 2025, with 13,732 boys named Benjamin in 2015 and 9,762 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Benjamin ranked highest in the 2020s so far, at #10, with 64,922 boys given the name that decade. It started at #32 in the 1880s.
Every 20 years in the records: 490 in 1880 (#32), 450 in 1900 (#57), 2,309 in 1920 (#83), 1,446 in 1940 (#128), 2,249 in 1960 (#155), 13,622 in 1980 (#32), 14,845 in 2000 (#26) and 12,264 in 2020 (#7).
Highs and lows
The most boys given the name in a single year was 15,733, in 1989. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more boys for 1989 than for 1981, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #6, first reached in 2016.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 boys named Benjamin, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 490 | #32 |
| 1881 | 481 | #31 |
| 1882 | 478 | #34 |
| 1883 | 508 | #31 |
| 1884 | 509 | #38 |
| 1885 | 464 | #38 |
| 1886 | 463 | #39 |
| 1887 | 473 | #34 |
| 1888 | 781 | #25 |
| 1889 | 760 | #21 |
| 1890 | 537 | #37 |
| 1891 | 461 | #41 |
| 1892 | 525 | #42 |
| 1893 | 482 | #42 |
| 1894 | 469 | #44 |
| 1895 | 452 | #48 |
| 1896 | 416 | #51 |
| 1897 | 378 | #54 |
| 1898 | 405 | #55 |
| 1899 | 335 | #57 |
| 1900 | 450 | #57 |
| 1901 | 343 | #56 |
| 1902 | 374 | #61 |
| 1903 | 324 | #69 |
| 1904 | 358 | #68 |
| 1905 | 379 | #68 |
| 1906 | 352 | #71 |
| 1907 | 460 | #64 |
| 1908 | 480 | #63 |
| 1909 | 489 | #63 |
| 1910 | 536 | #70 |
| 1911 | 690 | #64 |
| 1912 | 1,272 | #67 |
| 1913 | 1,466 | #70 |
| 1914 | 1,823 | #70 |
| 1915 | 2,241 | #71 |
| 1916 | 2,186 | #79 |
| 1917 | 2,386 | #76 |
| 1918 | 2,431 | #79 |
| 1919 | 2,279 | #79 |
| 1920 | 2,309 | #83 |
| 1921 | 2,412 | #82 |
| 1922 | 2,378 | #82 |
| 1923 | 2,316 | #86 |
| 1924 | 2,221 | #89 |
| 1925 | 2,069 | #93 |
| 1926 | 1,898 | #98 |
| 1927 | 1,925 | #101 |
| 1928 | 1,805 | #106 |
| 1929 | 1,695 | #107 |
| 1930 | 1,594 | #115 |
| 1931 | 1,560 | #113 |
| 1932 | 1,539 | #115 |
| 1933 | 1,413 | #118 |
| 1934 | 1,483 | #117 |
| 1935 | 1,409 | #123 |
| 1936 | 1,354 | #123 |
| 1937 | 1,422 | #119 |
| 1938 | 1,416 | #125 |
| 1939 | 1,423 | #124 |
| 1940 | 1,446 | #128 |
| 1941 | 1,578 | #124 |
| 1942 | 1,692 | #129 |
| 1943 | 1,719 | #130 |
| 1944 | 1,622 | #130 |
| 1945 | 1,562 | #140 |
| 1946 | 1,655 | #146 |
| 1947 | 1,931 | #144 |
| 1948 | 1,963 | #139 |
| 1949 | 2,016 | #135 |
| 1950 | 2,185 | #123 |
| 1951 | 2,345 | #123 |
| 1952 | 2,440 | #122 |
| 1953 | 2,413 | #128 |
| 1954 | 2,452 | #132 |
| 1955 | 2,449 | #132 |
| 1956 | 2,472 | #131 |
| 1957 | 2,489 | #138 |
| 1958 | 2,257 | #150 |
| 1959 | 2,331 | #150 |
| 1960 | 2,249 | #155 |
| 1961 | 2,388 | #146 |
| 1962 | 2,507 | #140 |
| 1963 | 2,348 | #144 |
| 1964 | 2,503 | #131 |
| 1965 | 2,337 | #133 |
| 1966 | 2,377 | #130 |
| 1967 | 2,504 | #119 |
| 1968 | 3,017 | #99 |
| 1969 | 3,379 | #91 |
| 1970 | 3,926 | #81 |
| 1971 | 4,251 | #69 |
| 1972 | 4,498 | #64 |
| 1973 | 5,226 | #55 |
| 1974 | 7,183 | #46 |
| 1975 | 9,544 | #36 |
| 1976 | 10,672 | #32 |
| 1977 | 12,106 | #29 |
| 1978 | 11,414 | #34 |
| 1979 | 12,512 | #33 |
| 1980 | 13,622 | #32 |
| 1981 | 14,360 | #32 |
| 1982 | 13,805 | #33 |
| 1983 | 13,285 | #32 |
| 1984 | 13,266 | #30 |
| 1985 | 13,423 | #31 |
| 1986 | 13,793 | #30 |
| 1987 | 14,892 | #28 |
| 1988 | 15,187 | #30 |
| 1989 | 15,733 | #29 |
| 1990 | 14,633 | #33 |
| 1991 | 13,877 | #33 |
| 1992 | 13,455 | #33 |
| 1993 | 12,686 | #32 |
| 1994 | 12,791 | #31 |
| 1995 | 12,720 | #31 |
| 1996 | 13,784 | #29 |
| 1997 | 13,266 | #29 |
| 1998 | 13,061 | #30 |
| 1999 | 13,666 | #29 |
| 2000 | 14,845 | #26 |
| 2001 | 14,339 | #27 |
| 2002 | 13,492 | #27 |
| 2003 | 14,086 | #24 |
| 2004 | 13,832 | #25 |
| 2005 | 13,586 | #25 |
| 2006 | 13,766 | #24 |
| 2007 | 13,282 | #26 |
| 2008 | 12,958 | #25 |
| 2009 | 13,123 | #19 |
| 2010 | 12,439 | #22 |
| 2011 | 13,082 | #19 |
| 2012 | 12,835 | #16 |
| 2013 | 13,515 | #14 |
| 2014 | 13,830 | #12 |
| 2015 | 13,732 | #10 |
| 2016 | 14,686 | #6 |
| 2017 | 13,858 | #6 |
| 2018 | 13,488 | #6 |
| 2019 | 13,044 | #7 |
| 2020 | 12,264 | #7 |
| 2021 | 11,895 | #7 |
| 2022 | 10,912 | #9 |
| 2023 | 10,224 | #11 |
| 2024 | 9,865 | #11 |
| 2025 | 9,762 | #11 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.