Boy · Hebrew, through English
Benny
Say it: BEN-ee
Meaning
A pet form of Benjamin, from Hebrew Binyamin 'son of the right hand' (or 'son of the south').
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Used as a full name in the US throughout the 20th century.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1930s
In the United States
- 47,871 babies given this name since 1882
- At its height in 1939, about 1 in 1,300 boys
- 174 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Bennie
Famous bearers
- Benny Goodman, American bandleader
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.