Find out how popular the last name Behenna is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Behenna.

Behenna, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Behenna surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Behenna in America

Behenna is the 124548th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Behenna surname appeared 138 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Behenna.

We can also compare 2010 data for Behenna to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Behenna

The surname Behenna has its origins in Cornwall, England, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Cornish place name "Behenna," which means "little meadow" or "little valley." The name is a combination of the Cornish words "behen" (little) and "an" (the).

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Behenna can be found in the Protestation Returns of 1641-1642, where a Thomas Behenna is listed as a resident of St. Enoder, Cornwall. The surname also appears in various parish records and manorial rolls from the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily concentrated in the Cornish parishes of St. Enoder, St. Columb Major, and St. Mawgan.

Notable individuals with the surname Behenna include John Behenna (1784-1858), a Cornish miner and Methodist preacher who emigrated to Australia in the early 19th century. Another notable figure is Richard Behenna (1890-1965), a Cornish tin miner and trade union leader who played a significant role in the Cornish Miners' Strike of 1919.

In the literary world, Michael Behenna (1924-2016) was a Cornish poet and novelist known for his works that explored the lives and struggles of Cornish miners. His novel "The Cornish Riviera" (1984) was particularly acclaimed for its portrayal of the Cornish mining community.

Moving to more recent history, Major Nidal Malik Hasan (born 1970), the perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother whose maiden name was Behenna.

Another individual of note is Michael Behenna (born 1985), a former United States Army soldier who was convicted of unpremeditated murder in 2009 for the killing of an Iraqi prisoner during the Iraq War. His case garnered significant attention and sparked debates around the rules of engagement and the treatment of prisoners during the conflict.

While the Behenna surname has Cornish roots, it has since spread across various parts of the world, particularly in areas with strong Cornish diaspora communities, such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Behenna

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Behenna.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Behenna was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Behenna has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Behenna was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Behenna, please contact us.

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