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

Benito, 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 Benito surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Benito in America

Benito is the 12703rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Benito surname appeared 2,430 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Benito.

We can also compare 2010 data for Benito 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 Benito

The surname Benito originated in Spain during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Latin personal name Benedictus, which means "blessed." The name likely arose as a nickname for someone born on the feast day of St. Benedict or for someone known for their blessings or piety.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Benito can be found in medieval Spanish records and documents from the 13th and 14th centuries. It was particularly prevalent in the regions of Castile and Aragon, where it was often spelled as Benito or Venito.

One notable historical reference to the name Benito can be found in the "Libro de los Valles de Vizcaya," a 14th-century manuscript that documented the noble families and lineages of the Basque region. It mentions a certain "Juan Benito de Zamudio," suggesting the name's presence in the area during that time.

In the 15th century, the surname Benito appeared in several Spanish place names, such as Benito de Bazán, a small town in the province of León, and Benito Juárez, a municipality in the state of Querétaro.

Among the notable individuals who bore the surname Benito throughout history are:

1. Pedro Benito Pardo de la Casta (1564-1629), a Spanish conquistador and explorer who played a significant role in the colonization of New Mexico.
2. María Benito Monclús (1836-1913), a Spanish philanthropist and educator who founded several schools and orphanages in Madrid.
3. Juan Benito Molina (1766-1829), a Chilean priest, naturalist, and writer, best known for his work "Compendio de la Historia Natural del Reino de Chile."
4. Benito Juárez (1806-1872), a Mexican lawyer and politician who served as the 26th President of Mexico from 1858 to 1872, renowned for his liberal reforms and resistance against the French intervention.
5. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), the infamous Italian fascist dictator and the founder of the National Fascist Party, who ruled Italy as Prime Minister from 1922 to 1943.

While the surname Benito has its roots in Spain, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly Latin America, due to Spanish colonization and migration.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Benito

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

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

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

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