Biniam
An Amharic masculine given name meaning "son of mine" or "my heir".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Biniam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Biniam today is around 3 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Biniam births was 2023 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Biniam. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Biniam with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Biniam. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2023
5 babies that year
Average age
3
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,485
Tracked since 2023
Census
Biniam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 517 people with the first name Biniam, which placed it at #20,108 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
#20,108
National first-name rank
People counted
517
517 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
97.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Biniam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Biniam is Black at 97.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Biniam 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 Biniam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American97.3% · 503
- White1.0% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 4
- Two or more races0.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Biniam: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Biniam 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 Biniam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Biniam
Biniam is a given name of Semitic origin, derived from the Ge'ez language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. The name dates back to ancient times, originating from the Ge'ez root "byn" meaning "between" or "among". It is believed to have been first used during the Axumite Empire, which ruled over parts of modern-day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen between the 1st and 8th centuries AD.
One of the earliest known references to the name Biniam can be found in the Ge'ez translation of the Bible, specifically in the Book of Ezra, where it appears as the name of a Jewish priest. This suggests that the name was already in use during the early centuries of the Christian era.
In the 4th century AD, a prominent figure named Biniam is recorded as having been a high-ranking official in the court of Ezana, the famous king of the Axumite Empire. This Biniam played a crucial role in the conversion of the kingdom to Christianity, marking a significant turning point in the region's religious history.
Another notable individual bearing the name Biniam was a 6th-century Axumite monk and scholar, who is credited with translating several religious texts from Greek into Ge'ez. His works contributed to the spread of Christianity throughout the region and influenced the development of the Ge'ez literary tradition.
In the 13th century, a famous Ethiopian saint named Biniam Aregawi lived and preached in the northern part of the country. He is revered by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and several monasteries and churches have been dedicated to his name.
During the 16th century, a renowned Ethiopian scholar and historian named Biniam Rizqou authored several works on the history and culture of the Ethiopian Empire. His writings provide valuable insights into the country's past and are considered important sources for understanding that era.
Throughout the centuries, the name Biniam has been borne by numerous other individuals of historical significance, including religious leaders, scholars, and public figures, reflecting its deep-rooted connection to the cultural heritage of the region.
People
Biniam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Biniam 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
Biniam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Biniam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Biniam 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 Biniam a common name?
We classify Biniam 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 Biniam most popular?
The single biggest year for Biniam was 2023, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Biniam is about 3 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Biniam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 517 people with the name Biniam, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,108 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 Biniam 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 Biniam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Biniam appears almost entirely male. Of the 522 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Biniam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Biniam is Black at 97.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Biniam most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Biniam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.3% (503 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 Biniam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Biniam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Biniam 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 Biniam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Biniam 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 Biniam 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 have Biniam as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.