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

Benefield, 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 Benefield surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Benefield in America

Benefield is the 5769th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Benefield surname appeared 6,004 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Benefield.

We can also compare 2010 data for Benefield 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 Benefield

The surname BENEFIELD is of English origin, deriving from a place name meaning "the open field belonging to Bena." It is thought to have originated in the 12th century in Suffolk and Essex, areas where variations like Benefield, Benyfeld, and Benyngfeld were found.

Records show the name appears in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk in 1275 as Gunnilda de Benigfeld. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists a place called Beninghefelda in Essex, likely relating to an early spelling of the name. Similar place names Benfield and Beningfield still exist in Suffolk and Norfolk today.

One of the earliest known bearers was Richard de Benyfeld, recorded in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1317. Another early example is John Benefield listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1327.

A notable person was Sebastian Benefield (1559-1630), an English theologian, scholar and chaplain to Prince Henry. He published works on theology and philosophy during his academic career at Oxford.

Later, Henry Benefield (1687-1776) was an English legal writer from Hertfordshire who published books on legal matters relating to land tenure.

In the 19th century, Robert Benefield (1824-1896) was a prominent English businessman and politician who served as Mayor of Bedford from 1878 to 1879.

Another distinguished bearer was Robert Russell Benefield (1909-1993), an American author, historian and academic from Texas who wrote extensively on the colonial history of Spanish Texas.

Finally, Simon Benefield (born 1959) is a British artist and sculptor known for his large-scale public artworks displayed across the UK and internationally.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Benefield

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

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 Benefield 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 Benefield 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 Benefield was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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