Bentzion
A Hebrew name meaning "son of Zion" or "the builder of Zion".
Name Census estimates that about 526 living Americans carry the first name Bentzion. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bentzion today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bentzion births was 2024 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bentzion. 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.
People living today
526
~ 1 in 651,624 Americans
Peak year
2024
46 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,788
Tracked since 1980
Census
Bentzion in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 399 people with the first name Bentzion, which placed it at #24,220 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,220
National first-name rank
People counted
399
399 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bentzion
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bentzion is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and Hispanic (1.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bentzion described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bentzion at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.7% · 382
- Two or more races1.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
Popularity
Bentzion: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bentzion from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 197 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bentzion remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bentzion 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 Bentzion during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bentzions live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bentzion
The given name Bentzion originates from the Hebrew language and Jewish culture. It is a combination of two Hebrew words, "ben" meaning "son" and "tzion" meaning "Zion" or "Jerusalem." This name dates back to ancient times when the Jewish people were living in the land of Israel.
Bentzion was likely first used as a name during the biblical era, as the word "Zion" is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, referring to the city of Jerusalem or the land of Israel. The name may have been given to children as a way of expressing a connection to the holy city and the Jewish homeland.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Bentzion can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism compiled between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE. In the Talmud, there is a reference to a Rabbi Bentzion, although little is known about his life and exact time period.
Throughout Jewish history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bentzion. One of the most famous was Bentzion Meir Hai Uzziel (1880-1953), a influential Sephardic Rabbi and scholar who served as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine from 1939 to 1948.
Another notable Bentzion was Bentzion Milecki (1866-1918), a Polish Hassidic Rabbi and founder of the Monor Hasidic dynasty. He was born in Monor, Hungary, and was known for his Torah scholarship and spiritual leadership.
In the 20th century, Bentzion Shenker (1920-2008) was a prominent Israeli politician and member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) from 1965 to 1981. He was born in Poland and served as the Minister of Religious Affairs in the Israeli government.
Bentzion Shamir (1910-1982) was an Israeli writer and journalist who was born in Russia and immigrated to British Mandatory Palestine in the 1920s. He wrote several books and articles about the history and culture of the Jewish people.
Bentzion Netzar (1920-2005) was an Israeli military leader and politician who served as a member of the Knesset from 1965 to 1977. He was born in Poland and participated in the Jewish resistance during World War II before immigrating to Israel.
People
Bentzion + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bentzion 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
Bentzion: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bentzion?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 526 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bentzion 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 651,624 US residents.
Is Bentzion a common name?
We classify Bentzion as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 532 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bentzion most popular?
The single biggest year for Bentzion was 2024, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bentzion is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bentzion in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 399 people with the name Bentzion, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,220 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bentzion in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bentzion?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bentzion appears almost entirely male. Of the 395 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bentzion?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bentzion is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and Hispanic (1.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bentzion most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bentzion in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (382 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Bentzion in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bentzion a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bentzion 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 Bentzion still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bentzion 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 Bentzion 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.
How many people share the name Bentzion?
Want to know how many Americans are named Bentzion? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.