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Benaiah

#1,170 in 2025Boys' name

Yahweh has built

Benaiah has been given to 2,421 babies in the U.S. since 1976. In 2025 it ranked #1,170 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 176 recorded.

Babies named Benaiah, 2025

1 in 18,800

Benaiah over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Benaiah: meaning, origin, and history

Yahweh has built

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Benaiah means

Benaiah means “Yahweh has built”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,416 boys were recorded with the name Benaiah between 1976 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 176 in 2025; its best national rank was #1,170 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,415 in 2020 to #1,170 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,416 in 2015 to #1,170 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Benaiah between 2025 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2025; its best national rank was #15,301 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Benaiah?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 18,800
176 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 9,700
0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,170
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
13,057 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Benaiah sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5003%

Put another way: gather 13,057 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Benaiah. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Benaiahs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Benaiah was born before 2017 — so the typical Benaiah is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
44.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
91.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,416
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 44.5% of all recorded uses (1,076).

Is Benaiah rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+73
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+245
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+246
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.45×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (176)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,170
2025

Where Benaiah is used

Across 2016–2025, Benaiah was most concentrated in Tennessee — about 1 in 7,143 boys, against 1 in 15,554 across all states with data. It was least common in Illinois (1 in 100,000).

114 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Tennessee1 in 7,143
  2. 2Colorado1 in 8,333
  3. 3Washington1 in 9,091
  4. 4Indiana1 in 10,000
  5. 5Arizona1 in 11,111
  6. 6Texas1 in 11,111
  7. 7Virginia1 in 11,111
  8. 8Florida1 in 12,500

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Benaiah around the world

Where Benaiah ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1998–2025
    #1,226
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2008–2024
    #1,964
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1995–2000
    #556
    in 2000

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Benaiah by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,170
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 245
Best rank ever
#1,170
2025
Peak year
2025
176 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,416
Count in 2025
176

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#15,301
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#15,301
2025
Peak year
2025
5 that year
First recorded
2025
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Benaiah

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

BeniahBentleeBenicioBentlyBenzionBennetBenjamenObadiahJessiahBenjimanMicaiahJermiahBenjiBenignoBenuelBenjieMassiahBenyaminElijiahJahsiahJeriahAsaiahBenjamanAzaiah

Names with a curve like Benaiah

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Benaiah, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

CaysenZeusAkselZephyrKruzCaiusCedarJensonBronxZakariyaBastianThorin

Sibling names for Benaiah

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Benaiah

Top names of 2025, Benaiah's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with B