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Benny

boy name
Origin
Hebrew
Syllables
2
Peak era
1930s/2020s
Today
▬ Steady

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

Meaning

nickname-style variant of Benjamin, traditionally 'son of the right hand'

The story

Read the story of Benjamin →

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The formal names behind Benny

Benny 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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Benny'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

BennyEnglish · diminutiveBenjaminEnglish

More branches

BenEnglish · short formBennieEnglish · diminutive

How popular is Benny around the world?

In the United States, 1,442 babies were named Benny between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 11 boys named Benny were registered in 2024, the 330th most common name among boys that year.

Benny is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales, Canada, Austria, Brazil and Spain.

United States

1 in 15,000

In the United States, 1,442 babies were named Benny between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 1930s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Benny peaked in the 1930s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.

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

See the full list for the United States →

Scotland

1 in 4,200

In Scotland, 11 boys named Benny were registered in 2024, the 330th most common name among boys that year.

2010peak 2024

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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Ireland

1 in 4,500

In Ireland, 12 boys named Benny were born in 2025, the 329th most common name among boys that year.

2000peak 2023

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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England and Wales

1 in 8,500

In England and Wales, 69 boys named Benny were born in 2025, the 563rd most common name among boys that year.

1996peak 2025

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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Canada

1 in 12,000

In Canada, 30 boys named Benny were born in 2024, the 857th most common name among boys that year.

1991peak 2024

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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Austria

1 in 38,000

In Austria, 2 boys named Benny were born in 2025, ranked 1,241st among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

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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Brazil

1 in 500,000

At the 2022 census, 373 people in Brazil were named Benny, ranked 16,374th, with a median age of 12.
Among people named Benny living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.

1970speak 2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 72 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 830,000

In Spain, 54 residents are named Benny, ranked 13,578th among men, with a mean age of 42.8 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

last on record 2016

Benny is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 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 2019

Benny is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.

2000peak 20092022

share of that year’s registrations in the city

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 1973

Benny 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 1 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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Norway

last on record 1988

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

1945peak 19742025

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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Puerto Rico

last on record 2008

Benny is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 47 babies have carried the name there since 1998.

peak 19992025

share of that year’s births on record

First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)

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South Australia

last on record 2006

Benny is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

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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Not on the record in New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.

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

When you meet Benny

People given the name Benny in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1999. 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 Benny

Joe Jon Sam Mike Zeke Dan

Keep exploring

What is Benny short for?

Name trails: explore connections from Benny →

The Benny 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 Benny 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 Benny fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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