Benayah
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "Yahweh has built" or "the Lord has built".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Benayah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Benayah today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Benayah births was 2018 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Benayah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Benayah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2018
5 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,390
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Benayah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Benayah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Benayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Benayah
The name Benayah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "ben" meaning "son" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the name of the Jewish God, Yahweh or Jehovah. The name can be translated to mean "son of God" or "son of the Lord."
In the Hebrew Bible, Benayah is mentioned as the name of one of King David's mighty warriors. He is described as a valiant soldier who performed great feats of bravery in battle. The book of 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles recount some of his exploits, such as slaying two lion-like champions of Moab.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing this name was Benayah, the son of Jehoiada, who was a prominent priest and military leader during the reign of King Joash of Judah in the 9th century BCE. He played a crucial role in overthrowing the usurper Athaliah and restoring the Davidic dynasty.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Benayah. One such person was Benayah ben Yehoyada, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and commentator from Gerona, Spain, who wrote influential works on Jewish law and philosophy.
Another individual named Benayah was Benayah Raphael, a 17th-century Italian rabbi and kabbalist from Venice, who authored several theological treatises and was highly regarded for his teachings on Jewish mysticism.
In more recent times, Benayah Merlin was a 19th-century Jewish educator and writer from Germany, who published works on Jewish education and advocated for the modernization of Jewish schools and curricula.
While not as common in modern times, the name Benayah continues to be used within certain Jewish communities, serving as a link to the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Hebrew language and tradition.
People
Benayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Benayah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Benayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Benayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Benayah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Benayah a common name?
We classify Benayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Benayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Benayah was 2018, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Benayah is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Benayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Benayah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Benayah in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Benayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Benayah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Benayah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Benayah?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.