Gender Masculine
Scripts בִּנְיָמִין(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced Pron. BEHN-jə-min(English) BEHN-ZHA-MEHN(French) BEHN-ya-meen(German)  [key·IPA]

Meaning & History

From the Hebrew name בִּנְיָמִין (Binyamin) meaning "son of the south" or "son of the right hand", from the roots בֵּן (ben) meaning "son" and יָמִין (yamin) meaning "right hand, south". Benjamin in the Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. He was originally named בֶּן־אוֹנִי (Ben-'oni) meaning "son of my sorrow" by his mother Rachel, who died shortly after childbirth, but it was later changed by his father (see Genesis 35:18).

As an English name, Benjamin came into general use after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.

Related Names

DiminutivesBen, Benj, Benji, Benjy, Bennie, Benny(English) Ben(German) Ben(Dutch)
Feminine FormBenjamine(French)
Other Languages & CulturesBinyamin(Arabic) Beniamin(Biblical Greek) Binyamin(Biblical Hebrew) Beniamin(Biblical Latin) Benjamín(Czech) Veniamin(Greek) Peni(Hawaiian) Binyamin(Hebrew) Benjámin(Hungarian) Benjamín(Icelandic) Beniamino(Italian) Benjaminas, Benas(Lithuanian) Venijamin(Macedonian) Beniamin(Polish) Benjamim(Portuguese) Beniamin(Romanian) Veniamin, Venyamin(Russian) Benjamín(Slovak) Benjamín(Spanish) Bünyamin(Turkish)
Surname DescendantBenjaminson(English)
Same SpellingBenjámin, Benjamín
User SubmissionBenjamîn

People think this name is

classic   mature   formal   natural   wholesome   strong   refined  

Name Days

Austria: March 31
Austria: December 19
Croatia: March 31
Denmark: August 30
Finland: December 20
France: March 31
Norway: August 30
Sweden: December 28

Images

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (1778)Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (1778)

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Entry updated June 9, 2023