Name of the Week: Benjamin

 

Origin:

Benjamin is the Anglicised form of the Hebrew name Binyamin, derived from ben "son" and yamin meaning both "right (hand)" and "south." In the Old Testament, Benjamin is the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel who, according to the Jewish Talmud, was one of four biblical figures who lived his life without sin. Just before she died giving birth to him, Rachel named her son Benoni "son of sorrow" but he was renamed by his father -- Genesis tells us -- so that Jacob wouldn't be continually reminded of his grief every time he said his son's name. Benjamin has been interpreted in several different ways. The most popular derivation is "son of the right hand" which has great symbolic meaning in the Bible. The right hand (mentioned 166 times) is often symbolic in biblical verses for strength. The right hand of god in particular, represents power, authority and judgement.  Some scholars in rabbinical literature prefer the interpretation "son of the south," as he was the only son born to Jacob in Caanan while the others had been born in Aram to the north. It is interesting to note also that the tribe of Benjamin was the most southern tribe of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, further strengthening the link. In the Samaritan Pentateuch the name is consistently written as Binyaamem (Benjamim) which renders the name as "son of days". Some rabbis argue that this refers to Jacob's advanced age when Benjamin was born.

Usage:

As the name of a prominent Patriarch, Benjamin has been a well used Jewish name for centuries. The name was little used in Britain in the Middle Ages outside of the Jewish community, but was used enough to establish Benjamin as a surname by the 13th century.  It wasn't until the 16th century, when Old Testament names became fashionable, that Benjamin became more widely used. While it was only the 40th most popular name in Elizabethan Norfolk, it was the 17th most popular by the Restoration-era.  Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1670 in England, shows how the name gradually increased over the course of the 17th century:   1538-49: N/A; 1550-9: N/A; 1560-9: N/A; 1570-9: N/A; 1580-9: N/A; 1590-9: #42; 1600-9: #45; 1610-9: #46; 1620-9: #31; 1630-9: #33; 1640-9: #29; 1650-9: #24; 1660-9: #15; 1670-9: #15; 1680-9: #15; 1690-1700: #14. These later ranks remained quite consistent over the following centuries; in Dunkling's rankings for England and Wales, Benjamin ranks #15 in 1700, #13 in 1800 and #17 in 1850.  Data from the 1881 census shows that the name was most common in England and Wales in the 19th century. Interestingly, per 100,000 people, it was most popular in Wales which corresponds nicely with the distribution of the surname Benjamin.  Given that the Welsh held on to their patronymic tradition of adopting the father's name as a surname for centuries after the English dropped it, it is little wonder that the given name and surname flourished hand in hand in Wales. After 1850, Benjamin ever so gradually declined over the following century. Birth ranks in England and Wales are as follows: 1860: #23 1870: #26 1880: #27 1890: #35 1900: #40 1904: #53 1914: #63 1924: #83 1934: Out of the top 100 1944: Out of the top 100 1954: Out of the top 100 1964: Out of the top 100 1974: #34 1984: #16 1994: #15 By the 1950s, Benjamin (as with other Old Testament names like Joshua, Jesse and Matthew) was in "old man name" territory. Its huge leap back into favour came in the mid-1970s. According to Leslie Dunkling's figures, per 10,000 births, Benjamin went from not ranking at all in 1960, to 6 in 1965, 30 in 1970 and 119 in 1975.  Some of this may be attributed to the fame of British composer Benjamin Britten as well of the success of the film The Graduate in 1967, in which Dustin Hoffman played the lead role, Benjamin Braddock. By 1996, Benjamin was back to its 18th and 19th ranking, and by 2002 it reached the top 10 for the first time. It has since plateaued around the #30 mark.  In 2014, Benjamin ranked #28 (2490 births) in England and Wales, #47 (141 births) in Scotland and #53 (56 births) in Northern Ireland.  It is also popular across the English-speaking world, ranking #6 in British Columbia, #12 in the USA and #19 in New South Wales.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Patriarch Benjamin, the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons. * Martyr Benjamin (d. 296), martyred during the reign of Diocletian. * Saint Benjamin the Deacon and Martyr (329-424 ), martyred by the Persian King Varanes V. * Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria (590-661), Coptic Pope. * Pope Benjamin II of Alexandria (1327–1339), Coptic Pope. * Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), polymath and a Founding Father of the United States. * Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), British Prime Minister and author. * Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), British composer. Contemporary: * Benjamin Zephaniah (b. 1958), poet and writer. * Ben Stiller (b. 1965), American actor. * Ben Affleck (b. 1972), American film screenwriter, director and actor. * Ben Barnes (b. 1981), British actor. Literature and Other Media: * Benjamin Allen, character in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers (1836). * "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," F. Scott Fitzgerald story and film. * Benjamin Braddock, main character in film "The Graduate" (1967). Other: * Benjamin tree, a tree that produces benzoin that can be used in perfumery.

Variants:

Binyamin (Hebrew, Arabic), Veniamin, Venyamin (Russian), Benjamim (Portuguese), Beniamino (Italian)

Pronunciation:

BEN-jə-min [key]

Possible diminutives:

Ben, Benji, Benny, Jim, Jamie, Jem

Sibling Names:

Sophie     Abigail     Rebecca     Elizabeth      Hannah     Emma      Daniel     Matthew     Joseph     Nicholas     Thomas     Samuel

Name Lists:

Popular Biblical  Gorgeously Georgian  Dickensian Names

 

If you like Benjamin you may also like:    Elijah, Bennett, Joshua, Christopher, Joel, Gabriel, Jonathan, Edward, Zachary, Alexander