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- Benjamin - Last Name Meaning & Origin
Benjamin
- Used in: 3 countries
Origin: Greek
From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean "days" (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean "son of days (i.e. old age)" (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) "son of the days" and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) "son of the right hand"), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob's old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean "right" in the sense of "the south", noting that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the south. Jerome understood the name to mean "son of the right hand" and Gesenius speculated that this expression might have meant "son of good fortune".
Etymology: Wiktionary (CC-BY-SA)
Name Variants & Related
- Benjámin Variant with diacritics
- Benjamins Derived from Benjamin
- Benjamine Derived from Benjamin
- Benjaminsen Derived from Benjamin
- Benjaminson Derived from Benjamin
- Benjaminsson Derived from Benjamin
- Benjamin-Delacour Derived from Benjamin
- Benja Root name
- Aaron Greek origin
- Abdias Greek origin
Popularity by Country
Benjamin
Rank #868
Frequency
36,439 people (13.51 per 100k)
Ethnic Distribution
White 53.29% Hispanic 2.35% Black 39.24% Asian/PI 1.82% Native Am. 0.94% Two+ 2.37%
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