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Benton

#1,623 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Benton has been given to 10,421 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,623 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2016, with 278 recorded.

Babies named Benton, 2025

1 in 31,900

Benton over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Benton: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

surname transfer

What Benton means

Benton has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: “bean”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From either Old English bēan (“bean”) or *beonet (“bentgrass”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Benton (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Benton is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Benton comes through Old English bēan.

Benton is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Benton is pronounced /ˈbɛn.tən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10,415 boys were recorded with the name Benton between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 278 in 2016; its best national rank was #413 in 1883.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,125 in 2020 to #1,623 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #874 in 2015 to #1,623 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Benton between 2018 and 2018. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2018; its best national rank was #14,062 in 2018.

How common is Benton?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 31,900
104 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 16,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,623
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
22,096 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Benton 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 22,096 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Benton. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Bentons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Benton was born before 1989 — so the typical Benton is around 36 today.

Median birth year
1989
About 36 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
21.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
39.2%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
7,559
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 21.4% of all recorded uses (2,224).

Is Benton 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
−319
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−498
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−749
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.41×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
37.4%
Peak was 2016 (278)
Years since peak
9
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
13.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#413
1883

Spellings of Benton

Benton is not the most common spelling — Weston is, with 15.3% against Benton's 2.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Benton is used

Across 2016–2025, Benton was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 2,500 boys, against 1 in 10,767 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

140 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 2,500
  2. 2Missouri1 in 3,226
  3. 3Tennessee1 in 3,226
  4. 4Kentucky1 in 3,846
  5. 5Oklahoma1 in 4,167
  6. 6Alabama1 in 4,762
  7. 7Louisiana1 in 5,263
  8. 8Kansas1 in 5,556

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.

Benton around the world

Where Benton 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
    1996–2016
    #4,023
    in 2016
  • Canada
    1995–2024
    #2,855
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1949–1978
    #424
    in 1978

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.

Notable people named Benton

People whose public names include Benton, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Benton by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,623
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 498
Best rank ever
#413
1883
Peak year
2016
278 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
10,415
Count in 2025
104

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#14,062
2018
Peak year
2018
6 that year
First recorded
2018
Last recorded
2018
All-time count
6
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Benton

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

BensonBenitoBostonJaxtonKentonBartonLaytonWiltonBentlyNewtonBenedictBenicioSuttonBennetDaxtonBennieBentleeHiltonDaytonKeltonKoltonWaltonDentonKeaton

Names with a curve like Benton

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

MarianoJudsonHenriEnochAldenAbnerRansomHoustonLeightonDixonZackAugustin

Sibling names for Benton

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 Benton

Top names of 2016, Benton's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1883Boys' names starting with B