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

Benton, 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 Benton surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Benton in America

Benton is the 912th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Benton surname appeared 37,912 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 13 people would have the surname Benton.

We can also compare 2010 data for Benton 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 Benton

The surname Benton has its origins in England, where it first emerged during the medieval period. It is derived from an Old English place name, "Bentun," which translates to "bent grass town" or "town on the bend." The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documents landholders in England after the Norman Conquest.

Benton is a locational surname, meaning it originated from a specific place or geographic location. In this case, the name likely referred to individuals who hailed from one of the many towns or villages bearing the name Benton or a similar variation, such as Benton Magna in Lincolnshire or Benton Parva in Oxfordshire.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was John de Benton, who was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1275. Another notable figure was Sir Robert Benton, a wealthy merchant and alderman of London, who lived in the 15th century and served as Lord Mayor of London in 1491.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Benton family gained prominence in various parts of England. Sir Edward Benton (1539-1610) was a notable English politician and landowner from Hertfordshire, while John Benton (1622-1674) was an English Puritan minister and author who emigrated to America and became a co-founder of the town of Milford, Connecticut.

In the 18th century, Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858) was a prominent American politician and Senator from Missouri, known for his advocacy of westward expansion and his opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson. His great-nephew, Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), was a renowned American painter and muralist, widely celebrated for his depictions of the American West.

Another famous bearer of the name was Jesse Benton (1815-1868), an American politician and newspaper editor from Mississippi, who served as a congressman and played a significant role in the presidential campaigns of Henry Clay and James K. Polk.

While the Benton surname has its roots in England, it has spread across the globe and can be found in various countries today, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Australia, where many descendants of early English settlers have carried on the name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Benton

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

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

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

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