US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
Benjamin: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Benjamin for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Benjamin was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 8 years, between 2015 and 2022, reaching #6. Births peaked in 1989, when 15,733 baby boys were named Benjamin, so by peak year it is a Millennials name.
Benjamin in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Benjamin (1989).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Generation Alpha | 8 (2015–2022) | #6 |
Questions people ask
When was the name Benjamin most popular?
By number of babies, in 1989, when 15,733 boys were given the name. By rank, it reached #6 and spent 8 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Benjamin?
Its peak year, 1989, falls in Millennials (1981–1996). Its 8 top-10 years fall in: Generation Alpha (8).
How many people have been named Benjamin?
SSA counted 826,830 boys named Benjamin born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Benjamin are alive today.