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 [ 3 syll. be-nja-min, ben-jam-in ] The boy name Benjamin is pronounced as BEHNJHahMahN KEY. Benjamin is largely used in the English, French, and German 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 Beathan. 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. Benjamin has 26 variants that are used in both English and other languages. A variant of Benjamin used in English is Benejamen. Other English forms include the short forms Ben (used in Dutch and too) and Benj, the pet forms Benji, Benjie, Benjy (used in German too), Bennie, Benny, and Jamin, and the variant spellings Benjaman, Benjamen, Benjamon, Benjiman, and Benjimen. Foreign variants of the name include Beniamin (Romanian), Beniamino (Italian), Benjamim (Portuguese), Benjamino (Italian), Benjamín (Czech, Slavic, and Spanish), Benjámin (Hungarian), Binyamin (Hebrew), Bünyamin (Turkish), Veniamin (Russian), Venya (Russian), and Venyamin (Russian). Another foreign variant is the pet form Bibi (Hebrew). See also the related form, Beathan (Scottish). 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 2008, its usage was 0.593% and its ranking #25, but it was nonetheless the most popular within all boy names in its family. In 2008, Benjamin was used 32 times more than the subsequent ranked name, Ben (English and Dutch). Baby names that sound like Benjamin include Benjaman (English), Benjamen (English), Benjamín (Czech, Slavic, and Spanish), Benjamon (English), Benjámin (Hungarian), Benjiman (English), Benigno (Italian), Benjamim (Portuguese), Benjimen (English), Benzion (Hebrew), Benjamino (Italian), and Benson (English). Details of famous persons named Benjamin: KEY: Pronunciation for Benjamin: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; JH as in "gee (JH.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"   |
