The first name Benjamin

Discover the meaning and origin of the first name Benjamin, its history and its evolution in baptism records preserved in Genealogy Quebec’s collections.

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About the first name Benjamin

Meaning

The name Benjamin traditionally means “son of the right hand” or “son of the south”.

Historical origin

The name Benjamin comes from Hebrew Binyamin, the name of Jacob’s youngest son in the Bible.

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The spread of Benjamin owes much to religious usage; in archival sources it may appear in spellings adapted to the language of the record.

Pronunciation:ben-ja-minbɛ̃ʒam.ɛ̃

Frequency of the first name Benjamin by baptism year

The chart below shows the frequency of the first name Benjamin by the year of baptisms listed in Genealogy Quebec’s data. It highlights the periods when this first name appears most often and its evolution across generations.

3,666total mentions

Annual evolution of the first name BenjaminLine chart showing the frequency of the first name Benjamin in baptisms by year.50037525012501635171017851860193520101635–1639 3 baptisms1705–1709 3 baptisms1710–1714 3 baptisms1730–1734 6 baptisms1740–1744 3 baptisms1745–1749 9 baptisms1755–1759 3 baptisms1760–1764 6 baptisms1765–1769 21 baptisms1770–1774 30 baptisms1775–1779 12 baptisms1780–1784 39 baptisms1785–1789 42 baptisms1790–1794 75 baptisms1795–1799 66 baptisms1800–1804 129 baptisms1805–1809 132 baptisms1810–1814 159 baptisms1815–1819 165 baptisms1820–1824 132 baptisms1825–1829 180 baptisms1830–1834 270 baptisms1835–1839 249 baptisms1840–1844 255 baptisms1845–1849 252 baptisms1850–1854 219 baptisms1855–1859 216 baptisms1860–1864 207 baptisms1865–1869 183 baptisms1870–1874 54 baptisms1875–1879 108 baptisms1880–1884 81 baptisms1885–1889 27 baptisms1890–1894 39 baptisms1895–1899 21 baptisms1900–1904 12 baptisms1905–1909 15 baptisms1910–1914 15 baptisms1915–1919 3 baptisms1925–1929 9 baptisms1930–1934 6 baptisms1935–1939 6 baptisms1940–1944 3 baptisms1975–1979 6 baptisms1980–1984 6 baptisms1985–1989 30 baptisms1990–1994 48 baptisms1995–1999 39 baptisms2000–2004 39 baptisms2005–2009 18 baptisms2010–2014 12 baptisms

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