2000
#5,398
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,937
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.20
Rare Last name
Benefield
An English habitational surname derived from places meaning "open land by a bean field."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,384 Americans carry the last name Benefield. That puts it at #5,959 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.86 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 53,690 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Benefield surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Benefield with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.4K
1 in 53,690
Census rank
#5,959
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,567 bearers of the surname Benefield in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.86 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5959th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Benefield, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (4.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Benefield
Among Census respondents with the surname Benefield, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (4.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Benefield bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Benefield surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.7% · 4,380
- Black or African American12.8% · 715
- Two or more races4.0% · 224
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 163
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 37
Timeline
Historical Census data for Benefield
Benefield appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#5,769
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,004
+67 bearers (+1.1%)
Per 100,000 2.04
Rank movement Down 371 places
2020
#5,959
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,567
-437 bearers (-7.3%)
Per 100,000 1.86
Rank movement Down 190 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,398 | 5,937 | 2.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,769 | 6,004 | 2.04 | +67 bearers (+1.1%) | Down 371 places |
| 2020 | #5,959 | 5,567 | 1.86 | -437 bearers (-7.3%) | Down 190 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Benefield surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #5,769 | #5,959 | -3.3% |
| Count | 6,004 | 5,567 | -7.3% |
| Per 100K | 2.04 | 1.86 | -8.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Benefield bearers went from 6,004 to 5,567 (-7.3% change). The surname moved down 190 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,769 to #5,959.
FAQ
Benefield surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Benefield?
Name Census estimates that about 6,384 living Americans carry the surname Benefield. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 53,690 residents.
How common is Benefield?
Benefield ranks #5,959 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.86 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,567 people with the surname Benefield. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,384), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.86 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.86 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Benefield.
Has Benefield become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Benefield went from 6,004 recorded bearers to 5,567. That is a decrease of 437 (-7.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,769 to #5,959.
What does the Census say about the background of Benefield?
Among Census respondents with the surname Benefield, the largest self-reported group is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Benefield in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.7% (4,380 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Benefield appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (78.7%), Black (12.8%), Two or More Races (4.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Benefield (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Benefield mean?
An English habitational surname derived from places meaning "open land by a bean field." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Benefield (1.86 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Benefield?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.