Ben

What Ben means

Short form of Benjamin, meaning “son of the right/south or son of…

shortening of the male given name Benjamin || From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Ben” (revision 93486948) and “Benjamin” (revision 94586442), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ben?

US: Falling: down from #736 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #165 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1889, when 453 boys got the name (#43 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 5,850 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,442 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 702 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NJ (0.65 per 1,000 boys), MA (0.48 per 1,000 boys), NY (0.45 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Ben is #843 in the US and #487 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Ben were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Bane30 US
• Boen7 US
• Bon5 US
• Boon5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Ben

Boys

• Nicolas#177Variant of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*
• Ethan#24“firmness, strong, or long-lived”^*
• Angel#67Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #67 vs #1,307 in 2025
• Diego#158Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #158 vs #444 in 2025
• Andres#200Spanish form of Andrew, meaning “manly”^*
• Cole#182“coal, coal-black”^*

For a sister

• Isabel#176“my God is an oath”^*
• Grace#38From the word “grace”^*
• Faith#254Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #90 in 2015, #254 in 2025
• Maggie#294Diminutive of Margaret, meaning “pearl”^*
• Mariana#260Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #260 vs #1,512 in 2025
• Hailey#104“hay + clearing”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ben’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.