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Ben

boy name
Origin
Hebrew
Syllables
1
Peak era
1890s/2020s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Ben and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

“Hebrew word for 'son'; also short form of Benjamin ('son of the right hand')”

The story

Read the story of Benjamin →

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The formal names behind Ben

Ben is an established short form of each of these names.

Benjamin · Hebrew origin · "son of the right hand," from the Hebrew Binyamin, Jacob's youngest and best-loved son; a name for cherished last-borns through centuries of Jewish, Puritan, and American use. Full of gravity, while Ben could not be friendlier

Benedict · Latin origin · from Benedictus, meaning 'blessed'

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Ben's name family

One shared root links 4 names in English.

Shared root: from Hebrew Binyamin "son of the right hand", Jacob's youngest son

The family

BenEnglish · short formBenjaminEnglish

More branches

BennieEnglish · diminutiveBennyEnglish · diminutive

Ben in song

Ben
Michael Jackson (1972)
A thirteen-year-old Michael Jackson singing a devoted friendship song that happens to be the theme from a movie about a rat, sung so sincerely that nobody minds.

How popular is Ben around the world?

In the United States, 1,887 babies were named Ben between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 121 boys named Ben were born in 2025, the 40th most common name among boys that year.

Ben is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, Austria, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, England and Wales, France, South Australia, Poland, Brazil, Spain and Argentina.

United States

1 in 12,000

In the United States, 1,887 babies were named Ben between 2020 and 2025.

peak 1890s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ben peaked in the 1890s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Ben has stayed between 1,887 and 7,949 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Ireland

1 in 450

In Ireland, 121 boys named Ben were born in 2025, the 40th most common name among boys that year.

1964peak 20052025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Austria

1 in 470

In Austria, 162 boys named Ben were born in 2025, the 52nd most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

1984peak 2019

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Scotland

1 in 1,100

In Scotland, 40 boys named Ben were registered in 2024, the 121st most common name among boys that year.

1974peak 20042024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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Canada

1 in 5,100

In Canada, 72 boys named Ben were born in 2024, the 431st most common name among boys that year.

1991peak 2017

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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New Zealand

1 in 5,800

In New Zealand, 10 boys named Ben were registered in 2025.

1940peak 20022025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

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England and Wales

1 in 7,400

In England and Wales, 79 boys named Ben were born in 2025, the 487th most common name among boys that year.

peak 20022025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

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France

1 in 8,000

In France, about 80 boys named Ben were born in 2025, the 555th most common name among boys that year.

1920peak 2020

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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South Australia

1 in 18,000 · 2017

In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Ben in 2017.

1944peak 19842017

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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Poland

1 in 49,000

In Poland, 5 boys named Ben were born in 2025, the 445th most common name among boys that year.

2000peak 20162025

share of that year’s name registrations

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

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Brazil

1 in 91,000

At the 2022 census, 2,150 people in Brazil were named Ben, ranked 4,872nd, with a median age of 13.
Among people named Ben living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.

1940speak 2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 656 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Spain

1 in 160,000

In Spain, 282 residents are named Ben, ranked 3,523rd among men, with a mean age of 27.9 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Argentina

1 in 330,000

In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Ben in 2024.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Mexico City City

last on record 2021

Ben is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

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Montevideo City

last on record 1998

Ben is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

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New South Wales

outside the top 100

Ben is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.

peak 19792025

share of that year’s top-100 registrations

New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names

See the full list for New South Wales →

Norway

last on record 2023

Ben is not on the 2025 record for Norway, where names carried by fewer than 4 people in a year are withheld at source.

19452025

share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

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Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Ben

People given the name Ben in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 2009. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Ben

Adam Daniel Jacob Joseph James Jonathan

Keep exploring

Short names · What is Ben short for? · Familiar but never popular

Name trails: explore connections from Ben →

The Ben deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ben truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ben fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

Does Ben fit YOUR family?

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